Under-17's beaten by San Gwann

by Ayrton Galea - 18th March 2014

Birkirkara Under-17's Team played an excellent match, but they paid the sourest price for not converting their scoring chances, when they were beaten by San Gwann by a narrow 1-0 score on Sunday afternoon.

Fresh from the dramatic victory over Mosta, Birkirkara gave it their all once again, but due to lack of luck, they left the Mgarr Grounds empty handed. This loss once again put the team at high risk of being relegated to Section B. The Stripes are second from bottom with eleven points, level points with Mosta, but the latter have a game in hand.

The First Half

The boys in Stripes showed their intentions from the initial stages, as they started out on a high tempo. On the other hand San Gwann came out on a lower tempo, trying to contain Birkirkara.

Clint Zammit threatened from early as he was released on a throughball behind the San Gwann defence, but the goalkeeper came out to collect the ball, and eliminate the danger.

Birkirkara continued to dominate the game with the boys piling pressure on the San Gwann rearguard. Midway through the first half Clint Zammit made an impressive run from the right side, and he managed to beat three opponents to end up in the penalty area, but his shot was blocked in the very last moment.

From the resulting corner-kick, Zachary Cassar rose above everyone else and drove a powerful header that hit the upright, and bounced off the goal line. Moments later Birkirkara were denied a clear penalty-kick, as a San Gwann defender handled the ball inside the box, but the referee, from a mere couple of metres away, saw nothing amiss, to everyone's disbelieve.

Birkirkara continued to dominate the first half, with various scoring opportunities, but they found San Gwann's goalkeeper in top form, as came to the rescue on numerous occasions.

The Second Half

In the second half San Gwann came out stronger and the game was more of an even contest, with both teams battling it out, in an entertaining end-to-end contest.

The first opportunity came to San Gwann, when a cross from the left side of the pitch entered the box and was diverted towards the goal, but goalkeeper Luke Chircop was alert and parried the ball away.

A few moments later Birkirkara missed a golden opportunity. Clint Zammit broke through on the right side, and played a perfect cross shot inside the small area for Aaron Attard, who missed the tap-in by only a few centimetres.

Midway through the second half San Gwann took the lead, when the striker was on the receiving end of a long ball behind Birkirkara's defence. With only the goalkeeper to beat, he managed to place the ball in the net.

Birkirkara upped their efforts and started to send some long balls deep into the offensive half, but San Gwann's rearguard managed to contain the pressure until the final whistle.

Starting Eleven: Luke Chircop, Sean Chetcuti, Darren Buttigieg, Maximilian Borg Bartolo, Zachary Cassar, Roberto Curmi, Michael Zammit, Aaron Montebello, Aaron Attard, Nigel Borg, Clint Zammit.

Subsitutes: Jean Claude Grech, Neil Zahra, Fabien Lufi.

comments powered by Disqus