Stripes eye semi-final berth in FA Trophy
by Ayrton Galea - 13th February 2015
Birkirkara FC will be searching to make it to the last four of the Malta FA Trophy tomorrow afternoon when they will face Pieta Hotspurs FC.
The FA Trophy has been elusive for the Stripes in the last years, following unexpected exits and disappointments, but with a twelve-match unbeaten run, the Stripes will be seeking to book their place for the first time in four years in the semi-final of the Malta FA Trophy, which is now sponsored by the Attian Group.
One could argue that this competition is the most reachable objective for the Stripes as they are laying eighth points behind leaders Hibernians in the leagud. However, after the points being halved and with eleven matches to go, they will definitely fancy their chances on getting back in the title race as well.
Birkirkara have found no particular difficulty to reach this stage of the competition as they faced two sides from the Second Division, that is Hamrun Spartans and Siggiewi. The Stripes easily disposed of Hamrun with a 7-1 score, while they had to wait for the second-half to score three goals, to defeat Siggiewi 3-0.
On the other hand, Pieta must be already somehow satisfied, that as one of the promoted teams to the top division of Maltese football, they reached this stage of the competition. In the third round, they needed an extra-time goal to eliminate Pembroke Athleta 1-0. In the fourth round, they registered another 1-0 win thanks to a first-half time penalty, when they eliminated the Gozitian side of Victoria Hotspurs.
The Stripes will be boosted with the return of Ryan Scicluna, back from suspension. However, their ruled-out players list did not get any shorter, as Mirza Hamzabegovic, Gareth Sciberras, Rafael Ledesma and Eliandro Gonzaga's condition are all dubious.
The match will be played at the Hibernians Stadium and is scheduled to kick off at 16:00.
Come on the Stripes!
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