Lack of luck leads to Under-15's first loss

by Ayrton Galea - 28th October 2013

They say that luck favours the brave but this was certainly not the case on Sunday afternoon as Birkirkara FC's Under-15's Team was denied no less than four times by the post. They conceded the first defeat in the APS Under-15's Section B League at the hands of Tarxien Rainbows with a result of 2-1.

Having launched their league campaign in a brilliant way by collecting maximum points from the first three matches to take sole leadership, the Stripes suffered their first lost despite clearly deserving better for their performance and their efforts.

Despite this defeat, the Stripes are the still leading the table with nine points, followed by Kirkop United with eight and Floriana with seven.

The First Half

Birkirkara opened the match on a better note as they went on the attack and after just fifteen minutes, they were unlucky not to take the lead when the ball hit the post to deny them from surging ahead.

On the fifteenth minute the Stripes hit the post for the first time.

Against the run of play, it was Tarxien who managed to surge ahead on the seventeenth minute thanks to a fast break-away and they shot the ball past goalkeeper Clyde Aqulina.

Two minutes later, the Stripes almost grabbed the equalising goal but the ball smashed against the post for the second time.

The Stripes suffered a draw-back on the twenty-fifth minute as Gianluca Zammit suffered an injury and was unable to continue playing. Isaac Cirana replaced Zammit.

To add more to Birkirkara's woes, they conceded the second goal five minutes from the end of the first half as Tarxien once again converted successfully another fast counter-attack.

The end of the first-half saw the Stripes down by two goals despite their positive performance.

The Second Half

With two goals down, and just thirty-five minutes to go, the Stripes went out on the attack and just one minute in the second half, they hit post for the third time in the match.

The Stripes were left wondering what they could do to break the curse, as on the forty-fifth minute, they hit the post for the fourth time much to their frustration.

Isaac Cirana managed to narrow the gap by slotting the ball home on the fifty-fifth minute.

Boosted by the goal, the Stripes piled up pressure on their opponents and Tarxien were left relying on their counter-attacks. Ten minutes from time, the Stripes made their second substitution as Justin Cardona was replaced with Sergio Conti.

The Stripes tried their best, but it was certainly not their day as the referee's full-time whistle found them conceding the first loss of the league.

Starting Eleven: Clyde Aquilina, Justin Cardona, Gilmour Sammut, Julian Camillieri, Jordan Sciberras, Gary Spiteri, Neil Micallef, Ayrton Attard, Kyle Mifsud, Karl Caruana, Gianluca Zammit.

Substitutes: 25' Isaac Cirana, 65' Sergio Conti.

Substitutes not used: Justin Micallef, Tyron Cachia, Gianluca Grima, Briam Mifsud, Braden Calleja.

Scorers: 55' Isaac Cirana.

comments powered by Disqus