QORMI     1

BIRKIRKARA     1

 

Qormi made a late fightback to salvaged a point thanks to a Bello-Osagie strike deep into eight minutes ofdadded time in a 1-1 draw against Birkirkara, capitalising on Edward Herrera’s dismissal 20 minutes from normal time.

They were rewarded for their perseverance as they looked determined not to finish empty handed from this encounter.

After dominating most of the first half, Birkirkara were soaking up pressure in the latter stages as they were made to play the final 20 minutes plus added time with ten men.

The presence of Jean Paul Mifsud Triganza from the start, should have given  more options in attack, although Jhonnatan made only a substitute appearance in the second half. It was left to Ryan Cemenzuli to make inroads in the Qormi rearguard. At the end, Birkirkara were made to settle for only a point, for their lack of cutting edge and some bad misses. This takes them alone in second place but still four points adrift of leaders Valletta.

Qormi were under some pressure to return to winning ways after four defeats and a draw.

Joseph Chetcuti was  preferred to Leighton Grech in their starting line-up.

They made the better start and pressed liked demons in all parts of the field in the initial stages. Still, they failed to trouble the Birkirkara keeper Reuben Gauci, except for a Bartolo shot from outside the area that went over. Bello-Osagie made a lot of running but was hardly productive, although he ended out scoring his side’s equaliser.

The Stripes took long to settle into the game. Camenzuli’s  grounder missed the target by inches and towards the half hour, from a Fenech cross, Mifsud Triganza headed out.

Birkirkara broke the deadlock on 39 minutes. Nikola Vukanac ran in to connect well to Camenzuli’s testing free kick and head firmly past the helpless Qormi keeper.

That gave the Stripes a narrow, though unconvincing lead at halftime.

Birkirkara remained dangerous on the coiunter as they probed for a second goal after the restart.

On 52 minutes Herrera robbed Zarate of the ball, played it upfield for Camenzuli who advanced inside the Qormi area but was thwarted by Farrugia. The Qormi keeper was injured in the collision and had to be substituted towards the hour after feeling dizzy.

Earlier, Birkirkara had threatened with another familiar set piece. On Camenzuli’s free kick, Vukanac headed tantalisingly wide.

Birkirkara also put in Jhonnattan for Ryan Scicluna and on 69 minutes the Brazilian was the first to test reserve keeper Sultana  as he took a free kick with splendid power from the left,that was  turned into a corner.

Qormi were handed some flickering hope on 71 minutes when Herrera was dismissed for Birkirkara for his reckless tackle on Zarate.

They increased their efforts and threw everything forward in search of an equaliser. Birkirkara tended to suffer under pressure as they defended grimly. Keeper Gauci pulled a superb save, denying Thackray with his drilling free  kick at the top corner five minutes from the end.

But there was no denying Qormi deep into four of eight added minutes. On Zarate’s cross from the right, substitute Sirito thumped his shot against the underside of the  bar and as the ball rebounded into play, Bello-Oasgie struck in Qormi’s dederved equaliser.

The match’s last noteworthy episode was the wrong red card shown to Zarate, following the first booking, but upon the player’s protests, the referee admitted the mistake and the Qormi player was allowed to stay on the field.

 

                

Qormi: M. Farrugia (S. Sultana), K. Thackray, R. Sammut, M. Bartolo (L. Grech), V. Pisani (S. Sirito), J. Chetcuti, A. Bello-Osagie, L. Sciberras, M. Gauci, E. Zarate, J. Bondin

Birkirkara: R. Gauci, R. Scicluna (Jhonnattan), N. Vukanac, J. Zerafa, R. Camenzuli (G. McKay), R. Muscat, G. Sciberras, A. Mendoza, P. Fenech, J.P. Mifsud Triganza (A. Borg), E. Herrera

Referee:   M. Borg

Asst.refs:  E. Spiteri, A. Borg Cardona

4th official: F. Zammit

Scorers:  N. Vukanac 39, A. Bello-Osagie 90+

Yellow cards: R. Muscat, R. Sammut, V. Pisani, G. Sciberras, J. C hetcuti, A. Borg, E. Zarate

Red card: E. Herrera

Player of the match: R. Camenzuli (Birkirkara)

TMI top 3:  1. R. Camenzuli  2. K. Thackray  3. N. Vukanac

Attendance:  987