Stripes cruise to victory

Mosta 0
Birkirkara 3

A masterful first-half performance saw Birkirkara returning to winning ways after they romped to an easy 3-0 win over Mosta.

The Stripes, despite being without several regulars, were simply too hot to handle yesterday for Vince Carbonaro's team and by the end of the first 45 minutes they were already home and dry after a brace from Michael Galea and an excellently-taken Chucks Nwoko free-kick gave them a comfortable 3-0 lead.

Certainly, Birkirkara coach Stephen Azzopardi was a satisfied man at the end of the match as his players responded in style to erase the memories of last week's shock 2-1 defeat to struggling Floriana.

The Stripes had international midfielder Nwoko in inspirational form. He was their chief orchestrator in midfield with his pin-point distribution providing various goalscoring opportunities for the Birkirkara forwards. One must also mention the hard-working Roderick Briffa whose darting runs on the right created several anxious moments for the Mosta rearguard.

However, it was not all rosy for Birkirkara who prior to this match were faced with a long casualty list.

Mark A. Bonnici, George Mallia, Reuben Debono and Miroslav Marx all missed the match through injury and midway through the first half, Azzopardi also lost Matthew Calascione.

The Stripes coach will be hoping that the injury crisis will be over in the coming days ahead of Friday's important clash against Valletta.

For Mosta this upset was their second in a row following last week's 4-0 defeat to Sliema. Yesterday, they could do little to halt their superior opponents who created constant danger for goalkeeper Sciberras and company even though two late goals just before the break were perhaps their main downfall. Mosta's defensive plan stood for 30 minutes but once the Stripes forged ahead there was no way back for Carbonaro's men.

The Stripes pressed the accelerator from the word go and after 16 minutes play Alan Tabone released Calascione who was blocked by Sciberras.

Six minutes later the impressive Nwoko powered his way past two Mosta defenders but his strike was saved by Sciberras. On 26 minutes Clint Micallef released Briffa but the latter's volley skimmed just wide.

Mosta's resistance was finally broken on 31 minutes when Michael Galea created some space for himself outside the area and his deflected shot finished in the back of the net.

Eight minutes later the Stripes endured a scare when Paul Zammit, with just Haber to beat, headed the ball wide from a Cuschieri cross.

A minute from the interval Roderick Sammut had to replace the injured Calascione.

In added time, the Stripes doubled their advantage in style when Nwoko's free-kick curled delightfully into the net past the helpless Sciberras. The Stripes were not finished yet and a minute later Galea notched his second when he tapped home the third goal.

On the change of ends, Carbonaro introduced youngster Dyson Falzon in place of the ineffective Da Silva. However, the Stripes continued to dominate and Briffa's swerving shot just missed the target on 48 minutes. Seven minutes later Nwoko's cross was ably controlled by Galea whose effort finished just wide.

On 66 minutes Galea should have completed his hat-trick but he failed to connect to a Briffa's cross with only Sciberras to beat. A minute later the same Galea dribbled past Terzyiski before rounding off the Mosta goalkeeper but his angled effort hit the side netting.

On 69 minutes the Stripes again found the net when Nwoko's fierce drive was partially blocked by Sciberras and from the rebound Tabone slotted the ball into the empty net. However, the goal was ruled out for offside.

The remaining minutes were a mere formality for the Stripes as they easily controlled proceedings until the final whistle which came as a relief to Mosta. Birkirkara are back on the winning trek.

Mosta: C. Sciberras, P. Sciriha, F. Ellul (P. Vassallo), R. Newell, A. Terzyiski, C. De Oliveira, A. Busuttil, D. Cuschieri, C. Mizzi (M. Abela), J. Da Silva (D. Falzon), P. Zammit.

Birkirkara: J. Haber, L. Galea, W. Camenzuli, M. Calascione (R. Sammut), M. Galea, C. Nwoko, C. Micallef (D. Pisani), L. Dronca, A. Tabone, R. Briffa, S. Eboh (R. Farrugia).

Referee: Marco Borg.

Scorers: Galea 31st, 45th; Nwoko 45th.

Yellow Cards: Mizzi, Da Silva.

Player of the match: Chucks Nwoko (Birkirkara).