St Patrick 3

Birkirkara 3

St Patrick: F. Azzopardi, M. Pullicino (S. Dimech), R. Cassar, D. Gauci, M. Tanti, C. Micallef (S. Abdilla), G. Failla, D. Pisani (S. Costa Brazilino), B. Fenech, P. Chizoba Anizoba, S. Zerafa

Birkirkara: S. Darmanin, M.A. Bonnici, L. Galea (R. Sammut), P. Monye’, H. Doda, C. Nwoko, L. Dronca, J.P. Mifsud Triganza, G. Mallia, E. Barbara, A. Ciantar

Referee: K. Azzopardi Asst refs: K. Borg, C. Micallef 4th official: M. Borg

Scorers: P. Chizoba Anizoba (2), J. P. Mifsud Triganza (2), M. Tanti pen, E. Barbara

Yellow cards: R. Cassar, M. Pullicino, A. Ciantar, M. Tanti, P. Monye’, E. Barbara

Red card: M.A. Bonnici

Player of match: P. Chizoba Anizoba (St Patrick)

TMI top three: 1. P. Chizoba Anizoba 2. M. Tanti 3. E. Barbara

St Patrick are a curious lot, capable of some of the Premier League’s most plodding football at times and yet equally able, on occasions, to resemble a top-six side.

Yesterday was the latter case as they produced one of their best performances so far this season to hold Birkirkara to a three-all draw in a highly entertaining game. And with a little more luck and caution they could have even won the match to erase the 7-2 drubbing of the first round.

Tanti was pivotal and Anizoba ever predatory, teasing and tormenting the Birkirkara rearguard with his clever pacy running, as St Patrick counter attacked with increasing fluency. They found life easier after Birkirkara’s defender Bonnici was sent off after 36 minutes but they traded equal punches with their opponents throughout.

This draw, obtained in see-saw fashion, might have slightly dented Birkirkara’s aspirations for the championship’s second phase as they trail leaders Sliema by five points when these are halved.

Azzopardi’s boys looked capable of dusting themselves down after an early setback, taking a 2-1 lead by the half hour, until conceding St Patrick an equaliser through a penalty and having a player sent off for the second consecutive time. Some resilience and strength of character enabled them to obtain an equaliser after trailing to the Saints’ third goal in the second half.

St Patrick had Caruana, Fleri Soler and Dozie missing, meaning that there were starts for Zerafa, Micallef and Pisani. The latter made way for Costa Brazilino on the half hour.

Birkirkara’s two changes from the side which demolished Lija Athletic the previous week were forced ones. Lino Galea was included from the start, replacing the suspended Camenzuli while Mifsud Triganza played for the injured Michael Galea.

Birkirkara were first to threaten but St Patrick broke the deadlock, almost upon their first serious attack. With hardly five minutes on the clock, Peter Chizoba Anizoba went inside the Birkirkara area with his usual pacy run and despite being hard pressed by both Monye and Dronca, he managed to squeeze a low shot towards the far post, out of keeper Darmanin’s reach.

That was the right tonic for the Saints who could have never dreamt of a better start. Suddenly Birkirkara were facing an uphill task although that goal sparked an immediate response from the Stripes.

Doda’s header on a Bonnici long cross went narrowly wide. Ciantar skied the ball on a Mallia cross and a Barbara effort was deflected into a corner.

Midway through the half, Birkirkara went close to an equaliser but Mifsud Triganza, in front of goal, arrived fractionally late on Doda’s low cross.

With the Saints seeming to retreat deeper and deeper and their rearguard beginning to look increasingly uncomfortable, Birkirkara grew menacing as they earned a series of corners.

None proved effective until Ciantar’s flag-kick from the right on 27 minutes was headed backwards by Dronca for Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza to nip in from the blind side and head home at the far end.

Birkirkara were relieved. Their oppponents were rattled. Costa Brazilino’s inclusion did not stop Birkirkara from scoring their second within five minutes. Barbara robbed Micallef of the ball on the left outside the St Patrick area and played it square to Mifsud Triganza who beat keeper Azzopardi with a rifling shot.

The match took a further twist on 36 minutes when St Patrick won a free-kick on the edge of the area. Failla played it towards Zerafa whose shot at goal caused panic in the Stripes’ defence and Anizoba’s goal bound effort was handled by Bonnici on the line. The Birkirkara defender was rightly dismissed and Mark Tanti tucked away the resultant penalty to draw level.

There were half chances on both ends before halftime but as both defences remained tight, equilibrium prevailed.

Birkirkara, substituting Galea with Sammut, took control at the start of the second half but it was a nervy kind of supremacy. Mifsud Triganza volleyed Doda’s cross feebly.

Gradually St Patrick started to find pace and movement again. A Tanti free-kick on 57 minutes forced keeper Darmanin into a difficult save, tipping over the bar into a corner. Past the hour, Anizoba shot wastefully over the bar when well put through by the industrious Tanti.

And on 67 minute the Saints made their numerical superiority count as Anizoba raced from half pitch to chase Brazilino’s through pass. Darmanin stopped his sprint out of his line and the Saints’ striker beat him with a clinical finish.

But ten minutes later, Birkirkara were allowed back into the game. Etienne Barbara ensured that his side claim at least a draw when he played a deft one-two with Ciantar before outpacing Zerafa to beat the keeper with a low diagonal shot.

More excitement was in store for the last quarter hour as both sides went close to a winner. The unmarked Tanti shot Pullicino’s cross wide and a Dronca header flashed wide before Doda was blocked by two defenders inside the opposing area.

But in the final analysis, a draw was a fair result.