Muscat's Save Makes It A First For Hibs

Birkirkara 1
Hibernians 1
(Hibernians Win 5-4 On Penalties)

Top-level football for 2005 reached an exciting climax at the National Stadium last night.

Title hopefuls Birkirkara and Hibernians locked horns in the final of the Quadrangular Tournament for Top Clubs, erstwhile known as the Super Five Cup.

Determined to end the year on a high as well as grasping a psychological boost for the upcoming battles in the league campaign, the two finalists brought plenty of commitment to this encounter.

With the score locked on 1-1 at the end of the regular 90 minutes after Adrian Pulis's header cancelled out Michael Galea's opener for Birkirkara, the winner of this competition had to be decided on penalties.

After the first six spot-kicks were perfectly taken, Hibs looked odds on to win the tie when Jonathan Pearson edged them 4-3 ahead and George Mallia's low strike came off the base of the post.

Haruna Doda had the chance to punish his former club and hand Hibs their first triumph in this competition but his effort was saved by Dave Simon, the Birkirkara goalkeeper.

The Stripes' reprieve turned out to be temporary as Mario Muscat, the Hibs goalkeeper, emulated Simon by blocking Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza's shot from the spot to secure his team's first success in this end-of-the-year tournament. It was fitting that Muscat went up to receive the cup from MFA president Joe Mifsud.

A bunch of young Hibs players were offered a chance to demonstrate their readiness for sustained participation in senior football.

Julian Vella, Pearson, Edmond Agius and Ben Camilleri were named in Hibs' starting line-up yesterday as injuries deprived Robert Gatt, the Hibs coach, of the services of midfielders Essien Mbong and Peter Pullicino.

Malta U-21 left-back Clayton Failla and Doda were consigned to the substitutes' bench.

Stephen Azzopardi, the Birkirkara coach, also elected to make some alterations from the formation that beat Valletta 4-2 on penalties in Monday's semi-final.

The not-fully-fit Mark Anthony Bonnici and Mifsud Triganza, two starting players against Valletta, were listed among the substitutes, giving way to Adrian Ciantar and Chucks Nwoko.

Changes in the Birkirkara ranks were not restricted to personnel. Azzopardi also made his mind up to experiment with players' positions, giving Etienne Barbara instructions to forgo his now familiar role in attack in favour of a more withdrawn role on the right of his team's midfield.

Barbara looked anything but fazed by his new marauding duties as, 15 minutes into the game, he almost put Birkirkara ahead. Exploiting his pace and the open space in the inside-right channel, Barbara powered his way into the Hibs area but his flick from close range ended wide of the near post.

Six minutes later, Michael Galea, the most advanced player in Birkirkara's 3-4-2-1 formation, directed a teasing grounder which bounced just wide.

Hibernians, who had Ryan Mintoff taking up a holding role in front of their central defensive trio, encountered great difficulties in switching the ball to their forward personnel in the early stages of this final.

Their disjointed football contrasted sharply with Birkirkara's brisk movement which, on 26 minutes, culminated in a sweet interchange between Barbara and Michael Galea, the latter slipping the ball through to Mallia who was denied by Muscat.

The Stripes continued to run the show, Muscat forced into a double save to tame Lino Galea's angled effort.

Eight minutes from half-time, Birkirkara appealed for a penalty when the dynamic Barbara went down when challenged by Pearson but referee Lorry Sammut was unmoved. Barbara's industry made for an uncomfortable evening for the inexperienced Vella.

Hibernians should have considered themselves lucky that they kept their goal intact in a first half utterly dominated by Birkirkara.

Inside the first minute of the second period, William Camenzuli floated the ball forward towards Michael Galea who partially lost his balance as he drifted to the right. His scrambled effort from just inside the area presented no danger to the Hibs rearguard.

A well-struck free-kick from David Camilleri that sailed over the bar helped to raise a flutter among the Hibs fans.

Seven minutes into the second half, the anticipation of the Hibs fans grew as Terence Scerri strode forward imperiously in a rare counter-attack. The towering striker burst past Camenzuli and Scicluna but his final effort flew wide of the far post.

At the other end, dangerous efforts from Michael Galea and Ciantar were deflected away for a corner as the game belatedly began to look like a contest.

Dave Simon, the Birkirkara goalkeeper, was soon called to make his first significant contribution of the evening when fisting away a curling shot from Andrew Cohen.

On the hour mark, Roderick Briffa tried to breach Hibs' resistance with a strong shot that ended wide.

The Malta midfielder was prominent again on 65 minutes, speeding past a wall of Hibs defenders scattered across their penalty area but his rising shot finished wide.

Birkirkara's persistence finally drew its just rewards on 68 minutes. Barbara and Mifsud Triganza, on for Nwoko early in the second half, combined to retrieve possession with the former Floriana striker sending in a low pass towards Michael Galea who prodded the ball past Muscat.

Gatt's response to Birkirkara's opener was to introduce Doda for Mintoff. For his part, Azzopardi elected to bolster his defence with the introduction of Roderick Sammut for Ciantar.

Birkirkara looked as if they were in command of the game but, out of the blues, Hibs equalised.

Camilleri, the scourge of Birkirkara in their 5-2 league defeat to Hibs in the first round, delivered a swerving free-kick from the right that looked to be heading out of play before Pulis leapt to direct a looping header past Simon from a tight angle.

Three minutes from the end of normal time, Muscat kept the Paolites in the game with a good save to push away Camenzuli's free-kick.

Doda should have prevented the game going into penalties for Hibs when Cohen's intelligent pass found him clear but he stumbled on the ball and his weak effort was easily cleared by Birkirkara.

In the dying moments, Muscat did well to touch Lino Galea's drive onto the near post.

Birkirkara: D. Simon, L. Galea, P. Monye, W. Camenzuli, E. Barbara, M. Galea, C. Nwoko ('57 J.P. Mifsud Triganza), K. Scicluna, R. Briffa, G. Mallia, A. Ciantar ('77 R. Sammut).

Hibernians: M. Muscat, A. Pulis, A. Xuereb, R. Mintoff ('73 H. Doda), T. Scerri, A. Cohen, J. Vella, D. Camilleri, J. Pearson, E. Agius, B. Camilleri ('64 C. Failla).

Referee: Lorry Sammut.

Scorers: M. Galea 68; Pulis 80.

Penalty Sequence: D. Camilleri (H) 1-0; Barbara (B) 1-1; Scerri (H) 2-1; M. Galea (B) 2-2; Cohen (H) 3-2; L. Galea (B) 3-3; Pearson (H) 4-3; Mallia (B) Missed 4-3; Doda (H) - Simon Saved 4-3; Mifsud Triganza (B) - Muscat Saved 4-3.

Quadrangular tournament finals

1990 Sliema Wanderers vs Valletta 3-0
1991 Hamrun Spartans vs Valletta 1-0
1992 Valletta vs Hamrun Spartans 3-0
1993 Floriana vs Valletta 1-1 (Floriana win 4-2 on penalties)
1994 Floriana vs Valletta 2-1

1995 Floriana vs Valletta 2-1
1996 Valletta vs Floriana 2-1
1997 Floriana vs Birkirkara 1-0
1998 Birkirkara vs Sliema Wanderers 4-0
1999 Valletta vs Sliema Wanderers 3-1

2000 Valletta vs Sliema Wanderers 4-1
2001 Sliema Wanderers vs Valletta 4-1
2002 Birkirkara vs Hibernians 4-1
2003 Sliema Wanderers vs Valletta 0-0 (Sliema win 4-2 on penalties)
2004 Birkirkara vs Sliema Wanderers 2-0
2005 Hibernians vs Birkirkara 1-1 (Hibernians win 5-4 on penalties)

Winners: Valletta, Floriana - 4 times; Sliema, Birkirkara - 3 times; Hamrun, Hibernians - once.