Bold Pietà dent Stripes' title hopes

Birkirkara 0
Pietà H. 0

Title hopefuls Birkirkara saw their championship aspirations suffer a blow yesterday when they were held to a goalless draw by a solid Pietà Hotspurs side.

Ray 'Zazu' Farrugia's troops yet again displayed a high level of tactical discipline as they set about frustrating the high-flying Birkirkara side who simply could not break down the Hotspurs' rearguard, ably marshalled by Sharlon Pace and Mauro Di Lello.

Birkirkara, despite enjoying the lion's share of possession, were again found wanting in terms of finishing off their chances.

The Stripes also had a late Lucian Dronca penalty saved by Saviour Darmanin who thus ensured the Hotspurs their third point in as many matches since the start of the Championship Pool.

Birkirkara went into the match bolstered by their 7-2 thrashing of rivals Valletta to join Sliema at the top last weekend. On Wednesday, the Stripes trumpeted another victory after the Malta FA Protests' Board turned down a Hibs protest regarding the eligibility of Luke Dimech.

However, the Dimech dilemma looks like persisting as Valletta have also filed a protest against Birkirkara and Pietà made a notice of appeal at the MFA yesterday morning.

As expected, Birkirkara made all the early running yesterday but it was Pietà who created the first goalmouth action when Jamie Pace's volley from close range sailed over the bar.

Birkirkara hit back and four minutes later, Roderick Briffa's shot ended just wide. Two minutes later, Michael Galea combined well with Matthew Calascione but his effort finished wide.

The effervescent Michael Galea was unlucky not to put the Stripes in front on 14 minutes when his header from a Mark Anthony Bonnici cross hit the crossbar.

It was Birkirkara all the way in this first part of the match with the Hotspurs restricted to defend with all their men. On 16 minutes, Galea was again unlucky not to find the net. Sent through by a direct pass from George Mallia, he outpaced Gareth Sciberras and Pace, but his angled shot finished inches wide of the far post.

As the minutes ticked away, the Hotspurs began to pose some problems of their own and, in a space of five minutes, they had two chances to take the lead. First, on 28 minutes, Anatole Debono saw his deflected shot flashing just over.

Five minutes later, Jamie Pace profited from a sloppy clearance by Kenneth Scicluna but was blocked by Dronca. The ball finished into the path of Debono who, however, hit high and wide with the goal at his mercy.

Just before the half-time whistle, Pietà threatened again when Woods was inadvertently put through by Lino Galea's erratic clearance but the Hotspurs' striker saw his effort blocked by Justin Haber.

On the restart, Stephen Azzopardi, the Birkirkara coach, roped in Rufin Oba in lieu of Calascione to infuse some creativity into his team's attacking manoeuvres.

On the hour, Bonnici created space for himself on the right and his cross eluded the Pietà defenders but Mallia failed to connect from close distance.

Four minutes later, Pietà almost struck when Pace, running at the Birkirkara rearguard, sped into the area. Despite having two team-mates better positioned, he elected to go it alone and was blocked by Scicluna.

Seconds later, Pietà could have been punished for that miss when Briffa received from Oba only to be blocked by the rushing Darmanin.

Twelve minutes from time, international defender Michael Spiteri made his comeback from injury when he replaced Briffa.

Three minutes from time, Birkirkara's hopes of taking the three points were lifted when they were awarded a dubious penalty after Sciberras was harshly judged to have tripped Dimech in the area. From the resultant spot-kick, Dronca saw his low shot saved by the diving Darmanin.

Tempers flared up minutes later, resulting in Chucks Nwoko earning a caution after he clashed with the returning Digger Okonkwo in midfield.

The last chance of the match fell to Michael Galea a minute from time but his close-range effort ended wide.

The referee's final whistle, which arrived after five minutes of stoppage time, was greeted with joy by the Hotspurs clan whose gallant display brought them another unlikely point. Birkirkara were a frustrated lot as a draw against Pietà was not what they expected before the match.

Pietà: S. Darmanin, P. Aquilina, M. Di Lello, D. Okonkwo, G. Sciberras, I. Woods, K. Mamo, S. Pace, L. Lombardi, A. Debono, J. Pace.

Birkirkara: J. Haber, M.A. Bonnici, L. Galea, M. Calascione (R. Oba), M. Galea, C. Nwoko, L. Dronca, K. Scicluna, R. Briffa (M. Spiteri), G. Mallia, L. Dimech.

Referee: Joe Attard.

Yellow Cards: Mamo; Okon-kwo; Dimech; Darmanin; Nwoko.

Player of the match: Pierre Aquilina (Pietà Hotspurs).