First Round Round-Up

by Ayrton Galea - 29th November 2010

Yesterday afternoon Birkirkara ended their commitments of the first round of the 2010-2011 BOV Premier League in a goal-less draw against Tarxien Rainbows.

So far, the reigning champions are not having the expected results as they dropped points in matches they easily could have won.

In the first round Birkirkara have managed to register three wins, against Sliema Wanderers, Hibernians and Qormi. They were held in four draws versus arch-rivals Valletta, Hamrun Spartans, newly promoted Vittoriosa and Tarxien Rainbows. They conceded two defeats, against Floriana and Marsaxlokk.

The first round could not have opened on a better start. In the first match which was played on Monday 13th September, Birkirkara managed to beat Sliema Wanderers when they came from behind and humiliated "The Blues" with a 4-1 result thanks to a brace by captain Michael Galea, Terence Vella and Emiliano Lattes who both scored their first Premier League goal with the yellow and red shirt. This win was even more spectacular as Birkirkara had no less than seven players missing due to suspension and injuries. On a negative and unfortunate note, Birkirkara lost the services of Italo-Brazilian goalkeeper, Esequiel Lovizon, who broke his arm after only seven minutes. Match Report.

The second game was a completely different story, and the yellow-reds performance was far from their first match as on the 18th September, Birkirkara conceded their first defeat against Floriana with a 2-0 result. Match Report.

Birkirkara returned to the winning ways as on 24th September, when they defeated Hibernians with a 2-1 result thanks to a late goal by Emiliano Lattes after Terence Vella had opened the score for 'The Stripes' and Andrew Cohen equalised for Hibernians in the last few minutes. Match Report.

In the fourth match of the Premier League, 'The Stripes' registered their first draw of the season when on Friday, 15th October they shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw against eternal rivals Valletta. Birkirkara were unlucky that after just 24 minutes into the game they had to change two midfielders, Shaun Bajada and Rowen Muscat due to injuries. Valletta were close to beat the yellow-reds, but thanks to a wonderful long distance shot by Trevor Cilia ten minutes from the end, the Citizens were denied the win. Earlier on they had missed a penalty as Deni Rocha Dos Santos' low shot was neutralised by Manuel Bartolo who had an excellent performance. Match Report.

The fifth game was one to forget for 'The Stripes', as a terrible performance, especially by the rear guard, saw Birkirkara being humiliated by the first division Champions Marsaxlokk to the tune of 5-2. In this match, Birkirkara conceded the second and last defeat so far. Match Report.

Birkirkara dropped another two points in their 6th game which was played on the 29th October in Victor Tedesco Stadium against Hamrun Spartans when they were held by the latter in a 1-1 draw with the only scorer for 'The Stripes' being Michael Galea. Match Report.

The yellow-reds continued on their negative note as on the 4th November they dropped another two points against Vittoriosa in the 7th game and it was only a late goal by Nikola Vukanac, that managed to salvage a point for Birkirkara, with the match ending in a 1-1 draw. Match Report.

The reigning champions finally returned to winning ways in their 8th encounter, when thanks to a good performance they managed beat Qormi with a 2-0 result, with a brace being scored by the Argentine Emiliano Lattes. This was the first clean sheet in the the current BoV Premier League for Birkirkara. Match Report.

The last match of the first round which was played on Sunday 28th November, saw Birkirkara being held in a goal-less draw against Tarxien Rainbows. Match Report.

Birkirkara will commence their commitments of the second round on Sunday 5th December, in a match against Sliema Wanderers, and they will bring them to an end on Saturday 12th February against Tarxien Rainbows.

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