Birkirkara succumb to Marsaxlokk

by Ayrton Galea - 16th January 2011

Birkirkara conceded the second consecutive loss as yesterday afternoon 'The Stripes' were beaten by Marsaxlokk to the tune of a 2-0 result.

Last week the yellow-reds lost with a very satisfying performance, but yesterday this was not the case. Birkirkara never reached any notable level of play, and although the had chances to score, this performance can be described over all as a poor one.

'The Stripes' were not in their full strength. Patrick Borg and Nikola Vukanac was not in their best condition with the latter being left on the bench. Also Ryan Harding, Manuel Bartolo, Trevor Cilia and Simon Zahra were ruled out due to injury or medical conditions. Paul Fenech and Angus Buhagiar were suspended for this game after they picked up their fourth yellow card in the last outing.

Marsaxlokk opened the match on a more aggressive note then Birkirkara. One can say they managed to maintain these during all the game. After fifteen minutes of play Malcom Licari gave a good cross but both Rumen Galabov and Alfred Effiong failed to connect and it was deflected to a corner kick.

Birkirkara tried their luck with a shot by Alan Tabone which was deflected into a corner kick in the 28th minute.

With goal scoring opportunities being rare, and both teams failing to penetrate the opposite defense, the 1st half ended in a goal-less draw.

The second half was more energetic with Birkirkara creating more dangerous chances to score but it were the south-sea-siders who managed to score twice and win the game.

Birkirkara opened well and on the 48th minute a cross by Andrew Decesare was met by Emiliano Lattes but Rueben Gauci performed a good save.

Michael Fraser neutralized Alfred Effiong's effort on the 65th minute.

Two minutes later on the 67th minute, Marsaxlook took the lead when Malcom Licari stole a ball in the defense area, rounded two players before putting the ball into the net to put Marsaxlokk in the lead.

On the 70th minute, Marsaxlokk almost doubled the score. After a good cross by Trevor Templeman, Alfred Effiong headed the ball well but his effort ended wide. Three minutes later a powerful shot by Rumen Galabov also ended wide.

Marsaxlook made sure of the win twenty minutes from the end. From a cross by Alfred Effiong, Gareth Scibberas headed home.

With this win, Marsaxlokk extend their positive run against Birkirkara as the last time they were beaten by 'The Stripes' was on the 5th May 2008.

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