Birkirkara 3

Balzan Youths 0

Ten-man Birkirkara assured themselves of third place yesterday thanks to their easy 3-0 win over Balzan Youths.

The latter finished their commitments among the Top Six without a victory.

Both coaches opted to give a start to young goalkeepers Karl Magri of Birkirkara and Frederick Tabone of Balzan.

This was a one-sided match with Birkirkara dominating from start to finish, even showing the better ideas during the second half when playing with a man less.

Their midfield trio of Shaun Bajada, Paul Fenech and Gareth Sciberras took over from the first minute and, supported by Joseph Zerafa, they created a lot of openings for Shodiya and Santos Silva, the latter scoring two good first half goals.

Balzan showed their defensive intentions right from the start and had to suffer continuous pressure from the first whistle.

With their top striker Calcado isolated up front, they never threatened the Birkirkara goal.

Birkirkara, forced to play with 10 men after the dismissal of Angus Buhagiar just before the interval, had to relinquish some of their superiority in the second half, but they were still by far the better team.

The match had a quiet start with the Stripes taking the initiative, but the first action arrived on 16 minutes when Pereira hit wide from an ideal position following a Bajada cross.

On the 23rd minute, Santos Silva had a shot blocked by the onrushing Tabone but two minutes later, the Stripes took the lead. From a Bajada long pass, it was Shodiya who set Santos Silva. The latter controlled the ball well before placing it into the net.

Silva was again on target, scoring another splendid goal after again being set by Shodiya.

Just before the interval whistle, Angus Buhagiar was shown a red card for elbowing Calcado who retaliated and was shown a yellow card.

Santos Silva went close to scoring a third on 53 minutes, but his powerful shot was deviated just over the post - to a corner.

The Stripes went three up on the 65th minute when Shodiya converted a penalty after Forace had handled Bajada’s cross.

Three minutes later, Shodiya missed a glaring opportunity, shooting straight at Tabone after advancing unhindered from the centre of the field.

A few minutes before the final whistle, substitute Ryan Camenzuli went close with a 20-metre shot that scraped the post.

Birkirkara: K. Magri, R. Scicluna, N. Vukanac, J. Zerafa (R. Camenzuli), S. Bajada (M. Camilleri), G. Sciberras, P. Fenech (F. Zammit), R. Pereira, J. Santos da Silva, A. Buhagiar, S. Shodiya Haruna

Coach: P. Zammit

Balzan Y.: F. Tabone, R. Forace, B. Guga, N. Tasic, Y. Camilleri (J. Muscat), R. Farrugia, B. Bondin (N. Zammit), M. Ciantar (M. Borg), G. Bonello, P. dos Santos Calcado, M. Deyanov.

Coach: I. Zammit.

Referee: P. Caruana

Asst refs: A. Camilleri, J. Camilleri

4th official: F. Zammit.

Scorers: J. Santos Silva 25, 33, S. Shodiya 65 pen,

Yellow cards: S. Bajada, P. Fenech, B. Bondin, P. dos Santos Calcado, B. Guga, M. Camilleri

Red card: A. Buhagiar.

Player of the match: S. Shodiya

TMI Top 3: 1. S. Shodiya, J. Santos Silva, 3. G. Sciberras