Stripes easily see off St. Andrew's
by Ayrton Galea - 27th January 2016
Birkirkara FC registered their fifth consecutive victory in the BOV Premier League and closed the gap with leaders Valletta to just three points, after defeating bottom-placed St. Andrew's FC with a 3-1 score thanks to a goal each by Goran Mujaniv, Vito Plut and Frank Temile.
Coach Drazen Besek ensured his one-hundred-percent winning record, with his third consecutive win in the BOV Premier League. This was the fifth straight win for the Stripes in the league, who have closed the gap with leaders Valletta to three points, and with second-placed Hibernians to just two points.
The Stripes did not have to struggle much for these three points. Although it was a goal in stoppage time by substitute Temile to put their minds at rest, Birkirkara were in command for long stretches, and they had a number of scoring opportunities where they could have increased the margin in both the first and the second half.
It was Ryan Camenzuli who once again stole the limelight with another top-notch performance and he was voted as the BOV Player of the Match for the second consecutive match. Despite not putting his name on the score sheet, he enjoyed another terrific display and assisted Goran Mujanovic in the opening goal, that saw the Croatian offensive player opening his scoring account with our Club.
It was a match that once again saw the Stripes dictating possession for long stretches and they seemed to be in command after Mujaniv's opener but an equalising goal against the run of play ended the first-half odds even. However, in the second half, Plut regained Birkirkara's lead to get back on the scoring sheet, and Temile confirmed his fine moment as after coming on as a substitute, he sealed the issue.
With the Stripes involved in the third match in a week and facing Floriana in a difficult match on Sunday, Mr. Besek opted to rest some of his key players. Mauricio Mazzetti and Mislav Andelkovic were not in the line-up, and Nikola Vukanac and Edison Bilbao were drafted back in the fray. Temile started on the bench, and Cain Attard was given the nod from the start.
The Croatian coach opted for 4-1-2-3 formation. Kopric defended the posts, Vukanac and Bubalovic formed the centre-backs while Attard and Zerafa started on the sides. Sciberras was deployed in front of the defence, supported by the advanced midfielders Agius and Bilbao. Camenzuli and Mujanovic patrolled the wings that were at the either side of central striker, Vito Plut.
The Club's latest signing, Ryan Darmanin was named among the substitutes after joining our Club on Tuesday. On the other hand, Justin Haber, Edward Herrera and Ryan Scicluna remained unavailable.
The First Half
The Stripes had an early penalty shout after three minutes. Camenzuli served Plut who got floored by the challenge of goalkeeper Jake Galea, but referee Stefan Pace saw nothing wrong.
Following a quiet start, St. Andrew's had their first shot by Jonathan Perez ending over, while at the other end, Camenzuli delivered a dangerous cross in the path of Gujanovic, but he failed to connect in front of goalkeeper Galea, and the latter saved the attempt.
The Stripes went close on the fifteenth minute. Edison Bilbao drifted into the box before serving Vito Plut, who running towards goal had his shot blocked by goalkeeper Jake Galea.
However, the Stripes surged ahead in their next attack. Ryan Camenzuli delivered a low cross that crossed across the goal, and Goran Mujanovic showed great skill to control and drill a well-placed low shot past goalkeeper Galea to open his scoring account with our Club.
Birkirkara were now in total command and they threatened to double the lead on the twenty-fifth minute. Camenzuli shifted the ball from the left to the right side with a precise cross in the direction of Mujanovic, who chested the ball to Agius and the latter's first-timer scratched past the far post.
The Stripes were also dangerous with a cross by Zerafa but the defence cleared his attempt. From the counter-attack, Kyrian Nwoko unleashed a powerful shot from distance, but goalkeeper Kopric saved in two attempts.
Birkirkara went close again just before the half-hour mark. Cain Attard advanced on the right channel before picking up Plut inside the box, but after he controlled the ball, his close-range effort was blocked by Galea, with Nkene clearing the ball into a corner kick.
Ten minutes from half-time, Bilbao's corner kick was short cleared and from the rebound, Mujanovic went wide by inches from inside the box. Five minutes later, Jonatan Perez for St. Andrew's, went over with a shot from outside the box.
St. Andrew's equalised just before half-time, against the run of the play. Enmy Pena Beltre was floored by Joseph Zerafa inside the box and the referee had no option but to point to the spot, before booking the Birkirkara defender. From the eleven-metre mark, Joseph Farrugia made no mistake.
With no time to react, the Stripes headed to their dressing room with nothing to show for their superiority as the half-time score read 1-1.
The Second Half
Birkirkara could have ended playing with ten players after just two minutes, when Joseph Zerafa committed a late foul but the referee kept his cards in his pocket.
There was a sense of frustration in the opening stages as the Stripes lacked ideas. Clearly unhappy with his team's performance, Coach Bezek made his first substitution ten minutes into the second half, when he introduced Frank Temile off Edmond Agius. Camenzuli was deployed instead of Agius, as Temile was included on the left wing.
The Stripes regained the lead on the fifty-sixth minute. Edison Bilbao delivered a dangerous corner and Plut's powerful header was blocked with a wonderful save by goalkeeper Galea, but from the rebound the same Slovenian striker headed home.
Despite going a goal down for the second time in the match, St. Andrew's refused to throw in the towel in, as they stayed resilient. Coach Borg included Salomon Wisdom as he sought to improve his attacking department.
In Birkirkara's second substitution on the seventy-second minute, Vito Plut was replaced by Matthew Guillaumier. He was included in midfield and Temile was advanced as a central forward.
Fifteen minutes from time, Temile lay-off pass found Ryan Camenzuli, whose shot ended over the bar. On the eighty-third minute, Bilbao served Camenzuli ,but his shot from an ideal position inside the box was deflected to a corner kick.
The Stripes sealed the issue in the first minute of added time. In a fast counter-attack, substitute Kurt Zammit, who had replaced Edison Bilbao just moments earlier, showed great vision to supply an excellent through-ball behind the defence, to the on-rushing Frank Temile. The Nigerian forward remained calm to place a low shot past goalkeeper Galea, to add gloss to the fifth consecutive victory.
Ryan Camenzuli was named as the BOV Player of the Match.
BIRKIRKARA: Miroslav Kopric, Cain Attard, Nikola Vukanac, Christian Bubalovic, Joseph Zerafa, Edmond Agius (56' Frank Temile), Gareth Sciberras, Edison Bilbao (90' Kurt Zammit), Ryan Camenzuli, Goran Mujanovic, Vito Plut (72' Matthew Guillaumier).
ST. ANDREW'S: Jake Galea, Enmy Manuel Pena Beltre, Dale Camilleri, Bong Won Che, Jonatan Perez (86' Ryan Sammut), Sorin Oproiescu, Matteo Desira Buttigieg (80' Jacob Walker), Joseph Farrugia, Francis Onwudinjo, Kyrian Nwoko, Eloy Edu Nkene.
Referee: Stefan Pace
Assistant Referees: Alan Camilleri, Thomas Debono.
Fourth Official: Alan Mario Sant
Yellow Cards: 45' Joseph Zerafa, 67' Christian Bubalovic (Birkirkara), 88' Sorin Oproiescu (St. Andrew's).
Scorers: 16' Goran Mujanovic, 56' Vito Plut, 90+1' Frank Temile (Birkirkara), 45' Joseph Farrugia (St. Andrew's).
BOV Player of the Match: Ryan Camenzuli (Birkirkara).
