Birkirkara 2
Tarxien R. 0
Birkirkara. : K. Naumovski, D. Chapoval, M. Andjelkovic, P. Fenech, P. Orlandic, J. Grech ( T. Agius 73'), K. Zammit, E. Ferreira dos Santos, C, Attard, M. Franca de Siqueira (M. Beerman 82') , C. Alberto Chavarria Rodrigues (M. Mifsud 77')
Tarxien : A. Cassar, J. Wemmer (R. Rogac 35'), M. Spiteri, G. Aquilina, D. Falzon, A. Scicluna, S. Radovanovic, A. De Barros, M. Ciantar (A.Agius 67') , R. Silva Faria, A. Nilsson (D. Vassallo 82')
Referee: Jamie Robinson (Northern Ireland)
Asst refs: Jamie Carnduff, Bogdan Sfirloaga
4th official: Mark Dillon
Scorers: P. Orlandic 32', A. Cassar og 64''
Yellow cards: D. Falzon, P. Fenech, K. Zammit
Player of the match: Mislav Andjelkovic
TMI Top 3: 1.,M. Andelkovic 2. A. Chavarria Rodrigues , 3. D. Falzon
Birkirkara gained three precious points in their bid to climb up the table after a rather bumpy start when they beat Tarxien Rainbows by a goal in each half. The win was after all what the Stripes deserved who looked much better than in previous encounters.
An unsual scenario for the Stripes is that from the last four matches they were beaten three times namely by Valletta, Gzira and the unexpected one against St. Andrew's. The international break was a blessing in disguise for Paul Zammit since it was time for some soul searching in order to put Birikirkara's house in order.
The Stripes mentor decided to draft in from the start their new recruit, Montenegrin striker Petar Orlandic.
The Rainbows went into this game losing three from the past four matches with their latest setback being the defeat against neighbours Hibernians. Their league position leaves much to be desired and they must surely up their tempo if they want to avoid further trouble come the second part of the campaign.
The Stripes did all the initial running and on 8 minutes shots by Marcelo and Chavarria were blocked by Wemmer. In the 16th minute Chavarria found Orlandic whose diagonal shot was saved by Cassar.
Once again Chavarria sent Orlandic through but the onrushing Cassar was first on the ball to clear to safety. And on the half hour mark Chavarria was once again in the thick of action this time testing Cassar with a shot from the right.
Two minutes later and the Stripes broke the deadlock. Eduardo Ferreria dos Santos sent a cross from the right and in came debutatn Petar Orlandic who headed past Cassar.
Birkirkara kept piling on the pressure and two minutes from the break a Siqueira free kick was saved by the Rainbows goalkeeper. With Cassar once again being their saviour when in added time he saved a close range Orlandic header.
On the change of ends play was on the same pattern as in the first forty five minutes with the Stripes dominating possession and having the occassional shot at goal. They scored the goal that sealed the issue on 63 minutes when a Jake Grech corner was fumbled by goalkeeper Cassar with the ball finishing in the net.
And fifteen minutes from time a Daren Falzon shot was saved by Naumovski in a rare Rainbows attack. And minutes later Falzon once again tested the Stripes goalkeeper but the latter blocked well to keep a clean sheet.
Till the end Tarxien were never a threat with Birkirkara getting the much desired points at stake.