Sta Lucia 0
Birkirkara 2
Sta Lucia: R. Caruana, G. Bohrer, K. Pinheiro (N. Borg 45), K. Ante Rosero, C. Riascos, J. Walker (L. Galea 81), D. Agius, J. Zerafa (J. Magri Overend 67), C. Escobar, R. Tachikawa, W. Gomes
Birkirkara: A. Hogg, M. Guillaumier, E. Dos Santos, M. Vella, R. Briffa, F. Falcone, C. Attard, C. Prado (M. Mifsud 90), OM Carniello (K. Zammit 87), R. Fenech, I. Ntow
Referee: M. Spiteri
Asst refs: J. Spiteri, D. Spencer
4th official: D. Agius
Scorer: E. Dos Santos 36 pen., 61
Yellow cards: J. Zerafa 36, C. Attard 45, C. Escobar 61, C. Riascos 78
BOV Player of the Match: E. Dos Santos
TMI Top 3: 1. E. Dos Santos, 2. G. Bohrer, 3. R. Briffa.
Attendance: 479
Birkirkara gave themselves a big boost yesterday as they beat Santa Lucia 2-0 to move onto the 10-point mark.
Goals from Edison Luis Dos Santos (Tarabaj), one of them a penalty, gave them the much needed win - their second of the campaign.
The Stripes now seem to have overcome their crisis as they have joined Santa Lucia and Gudja on the 10-point mark.
In the first half, Birkirkara enjoyed the lion's share of possession, but had to wait till the 36th minute to open the scoring through a Dos Santos penalty.
The Stripes, who were playing without the suspended central defender Enrico Pepe, were the better side, showing improvement over their recent disappointing outings.
Santa Lucia could not do much more as they had to face the rather strong wind.
But they kept the Birkirkara strikers at bay for most of the time and only bowed their heads to that Dos Santos penalty strike.
In the second half, Sta Lucia tried hard to get back on level terms, but their penchant of kicking the ball forward from the back did not bring forth the desired results as the wind played havoc with their efforts.
Instead, Birkirkara remained calm, defended in an orderly manner and counter-attacked with a certain amount of danger.
When they scored a second goal, they controlled their opponents quite easily although Hogg twice was his side's hero as he thwarted Sta Lucia from at least a consolation goal.
Santa Lucia had the first effort on goal, but Rei Tachikawa's shot was easy prey for goalie Andrew Hogg.
In the 13th minute, it was Daniel Agius who lifted his shot well over the bar.
A minute later, at the other end, Caio Prado made his way to the bye line in the Saints area from where he crossed low for Dos Santos to hit incredibly wide with an open goal at his mercy.
On 20 minutes, it was Dos Santos who tried to put Falcone through, but out came goalie Caruana to halt the Stripes' threat.
On 28 minutes, Prado tried his luck from the edge of the area, but his shot went over the bar.
In the 36th minute, Birkirkara were awarded a penalty when Jamie Zerafa floored Edison Dos Santos in the area. Referee Malcolm Spiteri quickly pointed to the dreaded spot from where the same Dos Santos made no mistake to give his side the lead.
In the 43rd minute, Caio Prado was involved in a fine solo action which ended with his rising shot being turned to corner in style by goalie Caruana.
The first action in the second half arrived in the 61st minute and this was a second goal for Birkirkara. From a low freekick from the right, it was Edison Dos Santos who hit the ball which ended at the back of the net after a slight deviation by a Santa Lucia defender.
Santa Lucia tried hard to get back into the game, and in the 72nd minute, a Gabriel Bohrer freekick was saved by Hogg.
Two minutes later, the Birkirkara goalie twice covered himself with glory, first turning to corner a Bohrer left foot shot and from the cornerkick, Hogg was again called to save in style a Carlos Riascos header.
Birkirkara missed a great chance to close the match on 78 minutes, when Prado even went round goalie Caruana - well out of position - but his shot towards an unguarded goalpost was weak and even stopped by the wind, making it easy for a Sta Lucia defender to clear the danger.
Till the end, Santa Lucia tried hard to score a consolation goal, but Birkirkara remained in command.