Birkirkara and Mgarr share the spoils

by Ayrton Galea - 29th December 2011

In a friendly match played yesterday evening, Birkirkara and Mgarr shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw.

For this match, Mr. Paul Zammit decided to give the chance to many youngsters for the first time, and in the second half only Rowen Muscat and Andrew Decesare were deployed from the First Team.

It was not the most entertaining match but in the first half Birkirkara did what expected as they continually pressed our opponents and had the chance to score more than one goal, however many open chances were lost. In the second half, the pace of the match reduced a bit and in the last minutes Mgarr scored twice to equalise.

The First Half

As expected Birkirkara were dominant throughout the whole forty five minutes but they did not make the best of the many opportunities they created.

Karl Magri, Ryan Camenzuli, Joseph Zerafa, Gareth Sciberras, Angus Buhagiar, Leighton Grech, Rowen Muscat, Shaun Bajada, Alan Tabone Trevor Cilia and Michael Camilleri were the starting eleven

0' - Referee blew the starting whistle.

1' - Birkirkara were caught in an offside position.

2' - Trevor Cilia was caught in an offside position.

3' - Michael Camilleri was caught in an offside position.

4' - Ryan Scicluna was caught in an offside position.

5' - Ryan Scicluna was caught in an offside position. .

8' - Birkirkara could have opened the score when the Mgarr goalkeeper was anticipated, but Ryan Scicluna's diagonal shot ended wide.

9' - Freekick for Mgarr.

11' - Alan Tabone was fouled.

13' - Birkirkara were unlucky not to take the lead when from a low cross by Angus Buhagiar, Ryan Scicluna's shot was denied by the crossbar.

15' - Birkirkara had another good attempt ending wide following a fine cross by Trevor Cilia.

16' - In the first opportunity for Mgarr, Goalkeeper Karl Magri blocked the attempt.

16' - Mgarr won the first corner kick of the game following a deflection.

17' - Birkirkara won their first corner, which caused no danger for the Mgarr's defence as it failed to be met by anyone.

18' - Michael Camilleri was caught in an offside position.

20' - A low cross by Angus Buhagiar was well saved by the goalkeeper.

22' - Mgarr had an attempt on goal ending wide.

23' - Gareth Sciberras was fouled.

23' - Angus Buhagiar's cross ended wide after failing to be met by anyone.

24' - Trevor Cilia was caught in an offside position.

25' - Birkirkara won a corner following a deflection to Trevor's cross.

26' - Trevor Cilia was in action once again as he tried his luck with a shot that ended wide.

28' - Mgarr were caught in an offside position.

29' - Trevor's crosses continued to be dangerous as this time it was another fine cross towards Michael Camilleri but he did not control the ball and it ended wide.

29' - Ryan Scicluna fouled.

31' - Freekick for Mgarr.

32' - Leighton Grech was caught in an offside position.

35' - Trevor Cilia was fouled.

36' - Ryan Camenzuli was caught in an offside position.

37' - Angus Buhagiar fouled.

38' - Leighton Grech was caught in an offside position.

40' - Mgarr were denied from the lead thanks to a fine save by Karl Magri who turned the attempt into a corner. From the corner, it was headed wide.

41' - Birkirkara took the lead thanks to a fast counter attack. Trevor Cilia was well served and all alone against the goalkeeper he decided to pass to Leighton who had no difficulty in beating the goalkeeper to open the score.

41' - Ryan Scicluna was fouled.

43' - Michael Camilleri was caught in an offside position.

43' - Leighton Grech could have doubled the lead after he was well served by Trevor Cilia but his first timer effort ended wide.

44' - Mgarr were given a freekick following Ryan Scicluna's extended foot.

45' - Mgarr were given a freekick.

45+1' - Shaun Bajada fouled.

45+2' - Birkirkara almost scored the second goal when Ryan Scicluna's perfect pass found Alan Tabone but his powerful central shot was saved by the goalkeeper in two attempts.

45+2' - Referee blew the half time whistle.

The Second Half

The second half saw Birkirkara relinquish their dominance probably due to the large amount of youngsters. For some time the match turned out to be a quite boring affair, but then in the last 10 minutes Mgarr made a good comeback to earn a draw from this friendly match.

In the second half Mr. Paul Zammit changed the whole team as Jonathan Martinelli, Andrew Decesare, Andre Cassar, McCalister Clinch, Daniel Debono, Antoine Borg, Matthew Bugeja, Rowen Muscat, Fabian Zammit, Roderick Taliana and Brandon Attard started the second half.

45' - Referee blew the starting whistle.

45' - Antoine Borg's attempt ended wide.

46' - Birkirkara were caught in an offside position.

48' - Birkirkara were caught in an offside position.

48' - Andrew Decesare fouled.

49' - Birkirkara won a corner.

51' - Mgarr had a shot ending wide.

52' - Mgarr were given a freekick following a foul.

55' - Birkirkara were given a freekick following a hands ball.

57' - Brandon Attard fouled.

61' - Birkirkara made them two! A good combination between Fabian Zammit and Roderick Taliana, saw the latter's flying header being blocked by the goalkeeper and from the rebound Brandon Attard slotted the ball home.

63' - Matthew Bugeja fouled.

65' - Roderick Taliana was caught in an offside position.

65' - Mr. Paul Zammit made three substitutions as Andrew Decesare, Brandon Attard and Daniel Debono were replaced with David Spiteri, Aiden Galea and Dylan Gouder.

68' - Matthew Bugeja fouled.

74' - Mgarr had an attempt going wide.

75' - McCalister Clinch fouled.

77' - A fine cross by Rowen Muscat, Fabian Zammit headed over the bar.

81' - Mgarr reduced the gap when Andre Cassar brought down an Mgarr player and the referee ordered a penalty kick. From the eleven meters, Mgarr scored.

85' - A good combination between Rowen Muscat and Aiden finished with the latter's shot ending wide.

87' - Mgarr equalised thanks to a well taken direct freekick following a foul by Dylan Gouder.

88' - Mgarr almost scored the winning goal but the shot ended wide.

89' - It was time for Birkirkara to go close to score the winning goal but Rowen Muscat's header following a cross from the left ended wide.

90' - Mgarr fouled.

90' - The referee blew the full time whistle.

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