Pieta Hotspurs looked set to obtain the first victory of the season against none other than champions Birkirkara, but the Stripes struck twice in the last ten minutes of the match to obtain a dramatic victory.

Pieta deserved something better as they played arguably their best match of the season, but their defence who yesterday played a great match conceeded some space in the final minutes and the champions made full use of these shortcoming to snatch the victory. Pieta's defenders Tasca, David Camenzuli and Okonkwo were superb and cleared everything that came their way.

The Hotspurs even had went close to scoring a second goal and were unlucky to hit the crossbar, but they tired out in the final minutes giving way to Birkirkara's revival. Birkirkara's overall performance was far from satisfactory yesterday, and will surely have to improve in the forthcoming outings.

Birkirkara started the match on a high note going near with a Mifsud Triganza overhead kick. On seven minutes Andrew Spiteri almost committed an own goal when he headed backwards only for Andrew Hogg to turn into a corner. However the champions' domination came to an ubrupt end on fifteen minutes when Pieta took the lead.

Dominic Mifsud gave a good ball to Andrew Decesare who easily beat Sullivan from inside the area. Birkirkara tried to hit back immediately with a William Camenzuli dipper saved by Hogg. Pieta contained their opponents' territorial superiority, thanks mainly to the Stripes' erretic distribution of the ball.

On the other hand Kondev, Mifsud, Calleja and Spiteri were very effective in midfield with Deanov and Decesare ready to pounce on any occasion in attack. At the end of the first half Birkirkara had nothing to show for their superior possession of the ball as they never managed to test Hogg again.

Etienne Barbara shot wide on 21 minutes, with Mifsud Triganza heading over the bar fifteen minutes later, and Lino Galea blasting high on 35 minutes, before being substituted by Rodrick Sammut.

At the start of the second period, coach Stephen Azzopardi effected two other substitutions introducing Bonnici and Clint Micallef in an attempt to liven up the team. In effect Birkirkara looked a more determined side as they pushed Pieta in their own penalty area. Etienne Barbara hit wide from an ideal position and minutes later George Mallia hit the base of the upright from an acute angle as the Stripes were more menacing.

However the champions' verve quickly died away and Pieta 's defence had a quite quarter of an hour as Birkirkara could not organise a decent move. On 70 minutes William Camenzuli charged out of his defensive role, exchanged the ball with Mallia and fired a scorcher that was blocked by Hogg. Two minutes later Pieta could have wrapped the match when Deanov passed to Kondev whose first-timer slammed against the crossbar.

In the last part the match came back to life with Hogg effecting another great save diving to save a George Mallia grounder.

On 77 minutes the Pieta defence was caught off-guard but Calascione's shot, with Hogg out of position, went wide. Two minutes later Pieta's defence paid dearly for another lapse, when Calascione won a tackle with Tasca only to be floored by goalkeeper Hogg. From the resultant penalty Etienne Barbara mad no mistake.

Birkirkara were now storming forward and five minutes from time they forged ahead. Etienne Barbara powered his way on the right and from the goal line passed to Mifsud Triganza who easily tapped the ball in. It was now Pieta's turn to move everything forward, with Hogg giving a helping hand in attack but it was to no avail as the champions grabbed three precious points by a whisker