Under-15's crowned Champions

by Ayrton Galea - 13th March 2014

Birkirkara FC Under-15's were crowned the Champions of the APS Bank Under-15's League Section B when in the direct top of the table clash, they shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw with Floriana. The point was enough to mathematically declare Birkirkara as Champions.

This is a deserved success for the squad, who showed their strength throughout the whole league campaign, and managed to reach their season targets, after starting as favourites to clinch the title at the beginning of the season.

A minute of silence was held before the match, in memory of Charles Vella, father of Under 15's Coach John Vella McIntrye, who sadly passed away that morning. The boys wore a black arm band as a sign of respect.

The First half

The highly anticipated match started on a high note as both teams gave their all in this final and decisive league fixture. Birkirkara dominated for long stretches of the first half by managing to build numerous goal scoring opportunities.

Early on, Ayrton Attard received an inviting cross-shot inside the goal area, but his right foot effort finish ended over the bar. The boys in Stripes went close twice more through corner-kicks. The first attempt was made by Julian Camillieri, but he headed high on the end of a perfect delivery by Isaac Ciranna. The second corner-kick fell to Gianluca Zammit, this time following a hit and miss action, but a Floriana defender managed to clear off the line.

Floriana reached inside Birkirkara's goal area as they managed to hit on the break, but Nicholas Farrugia was well placed to divert to ball to a corner.

Karl Caruana was on the receiving end of a good through ball, and as he dribbled past his opponent, he delivered a dangerous cross-shot but did not find anyone on the alert to tap the ball into the net.

The final first-half opportunity came after some skilful footwork by Ayrton Attard, as he managed to beat a Floriana defender and fire hard, but the Floriana goalkeeper dived at full stretch, to parry the ball to safety.

The Second half

The second half started on the same tempo with the two teams battling it out.

As time progressed, the Greens started to take the upper hand and managed to pile some pressure on Birkirkara. As a result, Floriana took the lead after collecting a weak Birkirkara clearance some 20 metres out, and Floriana's striker received a cross well inside the box and tapped the ball into the net.

The young Stripes reacted well and applied heavy pressure on Floriana's rearguard. Kyle Mifsud took charge of another corner-kick, and managed to deliver on the far post, finding Julian Camillieri in an ideal position, but his effort was not enough as the ball ended marginally over the goal.

The magic moment came on the 65th minute as Karl Caruana received a ball about 30 metres out, he turned to face goal, and after dribbling forward a few metres, he powered a fierce shot behind Floriana's number 1 to send the Birkirkara clan into raptures.

With three minutes on the clock Gilmour Sammut came on for Gianluca Zammit as a late substitute to help his team contain the precious result. Floriana were handed a final chance as the referee awarded the Greens with a free kick deep inside Birkirkara's half but the young Stripes held strong and headed the ball far-out and into safety.

As the referee blew the final whistle, the Stripes ran around the pitch celebrating as they managed to claim the crown. Robert Attard from the Youth FA, presented the cup to the team's captain to bring the curtains down on a memorable league campaign.

First-Eleven: Clyde Aquilina, Briam Mifsud, Jordan Sciberras, Julian Camillieri, Nicholas Farrugia, Neil Micallef, Kyle Mifsud, Isaac Ciranna, Karl Caruana, Ayrton Attard, Gianluca Zammit.

Substitute: Gilmour Sammut.

Scorer: Karl Caruana.

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