Stripes held by St. Andrew's

by Ayrton Galea - 25th February 2017

Birkirkara FC dropped another two precious points in the BOV Premier League, as they threw away their lead twice in the match to settle for a 2-2 draw against St. Andrew's FC.

The Stripes squandered the opportunity to keep the pace with the first four teams of the league, when despite having the lead twice in the match, they were unable to pick-up the three points as they failed to make the desired reaction after conceding an early equalising goal in the second half.

Birkirkara surged ahead after just seven minutes thanks to Miguel Alba, but they only managed to keep their lead for eleven minutes as Kyrian Nwoko made the score level. Gonzalo Malan regained Birkirkara's lead mid-way through the first-half but Nwoko restored equilibrium again five minutes inside the second half.

By this result, the Stripes are in the fifth position but they are now four adrift Floriana and six points away from third-placed Valletta. For the Stripes, this was the second match without a victory after they had lost to Floriana in the last match of the second round.

Coach Nikola Jaros made four changes from the last game. Suspended duo Christian Bubalovic and Joseph Zerafa were replaced by Predrag Jovic and Gary Muir. In the other two changes, Ryan Scicluna replaced Edward Herrera while Gonzalo Malan replaced Mislav Andelkovic.

The First Half

The Stripes surged ahead after seven minutes. A shot by Miguel Alba was handled by Michael Johnson and Referee Eman Grech ordered the penalty. From the spot, Alba sent goalkeeper Galea the wrong way to score his first goal with our Club.

Birkirkara should have made them two on the fourteenth minute. Dimitrov served Alba who played an intelligent square pass inside the box towards Plut but the Slovenian forward failed to control well and his shot was deflected into a corner kick.

St. Andrew's made the score level four minutes later, as the Stripes paid a very expensive price for their previous chance lost. Ivan Paz sent a vertical cross towards Kyrian Nwoko, who was left unmarked inside the box, and headed the ball past Bonello.

The Stripes regained the lead on the twenty-sixth minute. Dimitrov delivered an excellent corner kick on the second post and Gonzalo Malan was in the perfect position to hit a fine header past goalkeeper Galea. This was also the first goal for Malan.

The Second Half

Birkirkara went close the third goal three minutes inside the second half. Gonzalo Malan's cross was blocked by goalkeeper Galea. The rebound fell to Plut who hit a powerful shot but his shot was blocked by the defender, with goalkeeper Galea beaten.

St. Andrew's equalised again on the fiftieth minute. It was a fast counter-attack that saw Joseph Farrugia supplying an excellent through-ball towards Karlo Kesinovic who delivered a fine low cross towards Nwoko, who all alone in-front of Bonello, slotted home from close-range.

Both teams ended players with ten men on the sixty-ninth minute in the same action. Ryan Scicluna received his second yellow card following a foul on Pena Beltre while the latter was shown a straight red card for retaliation.

Much was expected from the Stripes in the last twenty-minutes, but besides a solo-action by Alba, who had his shot saved by Galea, they failed to test goalkeeper Galea. The score remained unchanged as the Stripes continued to lose grip on their top-four ambition.

BIRKIRKARA: Henry Bonello, Gareth Sciberras, Srdjan Dimitrov (84' Matteo Desira Buttigieg), Vito Plut (76' Matteo Desira Buttigieg), Nikola Vukanac, Miguel Alba, Ryan Scicluna, Cain Attard, Gonzalo Malan, Predrag Jovic, Gary Muir (63' Edward Herrera).

ST. ANDREW'S: Jake Galea, Enmy Manuel Pena Beltre, Michael Johnson, Bong Won Che, Karlo Kesinovic, Aidan Friggieri (72′ Daniel Brandle), Nenad Belacevic, Joseph Farrugia, Ziga Kastrevec (90′ Jacob Walker), Ivan Edgardo Paz, Kyrian Nwoko (82′ Godwin Mckay).

Referee: Eman Grech.
Assistant Referees: Luke Portelli, William Debattista.
Fourth Official: Mario Apap.

Yellow Cards: 19' Ryan Scicluna, 31' Predrag Jovic, 67' Nenad Belagevic, 73' Gonzalo Malan.

Scorers: 7' Miguel Alba, 26' Gonzalo Malan (Birkirkara), 18', 50' Kyrian Nwoko (St. Andrew's).

BOV Player of the Match: Kyrian Nwoko (St. Andrew's).

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