Joy for Buttigieg as quick double lifts Stripes

Sliema Wanderers 1
Birkirkara 2

A goal down after only five minutes, it looked as though Birkirkara were heading for another dispirited outcome on John Buttigieg's debut as coach.

For long stretches, Sliema Wanderers enjoyed an edge over their rivals, fuelling hope of another victory that would have moved them to within three points of leaders Marsaxlokk.

This was not to be though as the tide shifted decidedly against the Blues in two eventful second-half minutes that saw Birkirkara rattle in two quick goals that left their opponents in a state of disbelief.

William Camenzuli and Dario Larrosa were on the right spot to give Birkirkara their first win after three successive defeats and get Buttigieg's reign off to a flying start.

The two teams' inclination towards adventurous football made for a brisk opening to the game. Sliema could have put their noses in front but for goalkeeper Andrzej Bledzewski who pushed Roderick Bajada's angled effort away for a corner.

Sliema's opener did not take long to materialise. Just over five minutes had elapsed when Bajada floated a cross inside the Birkirkara box and Aleksandar Madzar confirmed his rich vein of form by heading firmly past the stranded Bledzewski.

Madzar's goal rendered Birkir-kara's task of making amends for their recent debacles more complicated. Buttigieg sought to assuage the team's defensive deficiencies by switching to a four-man rearguard with Precious Monye flanked by Kenneth Scicluna filling up the two centre-half roles.

The returning Lino Galea started at left-back and Mark Anthony Bonnici was preferred to Roderick Sammut on the right. Skipper Michael Galea walked straight back into the first team after serving his two-match ban.

In attack, Galea was supported by Etienne Barbara who received a vote of confidence from his new mentor despite his anonymous 45-minute appearance in the 6-1 roasting at the hands of Marsaxlokk.

Ray Farrugia, the Sliema coach, settled on two changes from the team that overcame Valletta 2-0 last weekend. One of these changes was forced upon him by the one-match ban of Sharlon Pace who was replaced by veteran Joe Brincat.

The other change for Sliema came at left-back where Lee Lombardi received Farrugia's green light ahead of Clifton Ciantar.

After 19 minutes, Barbara turned well inside the Sliema area but his low diagonal shot was blocked by Akanji. The erstwhile disjointed Stripes gradually began to increase the frequency of their forays into the Sliema half.

Barbara should have put his team on level terms when Adrian Ciantar's measured cross found him unmarked in the six-yard box but the forward steered the ball wide of the near post.

Sliema might have punished Birkirkara for missing such a glaring opportunity when Anonam got on the end of a through-pass and bore down on goal unchallenged but his grounder whizzed past the post.

The clouds over the National Stadium thickened as the first half rolled by but on the field of play the intensity of the exchanges somewhat dropped.

Six minutes before the end of the first half, Birkirkara came close to restoring parity when Akanji just failed to intercept a cross despite rising above Monye. The ball squirmed into the path of Mallia whose lofted volley sailed over.

Not more than 45 seconds of the second half had passed when Ciantar crossed the ball into the Sliema box from the left but Barbara's scrambled attempt fell into the grateful hands of Akanji.

A flowing attack by Sliema, now deployed in a 4-3-3 configuration, should have produced a second goal as Madzar, served by Giglio, showed Monye a clean pair of boots before cutting the ball back for his supplier who instantly crossed towards the centre. Woods was first to Giglio's service but he could only get a slight touch to the ball.

A perfectly-flighted corner by Ciantar then caused havoc among the Sliema defenders as the ball flew tantalisingly across the face of goal and just eluded Mallia at the far post.

Fifteen minutes of the game remained when Birkirkara levelled matters, Camenzuli firing an unstoppable drive past Akanji from the edge of the box after Briffa had unsettled the Sliema defence with a diagonal run from the right.

Barely a minute later, Birkirkara went ahead, substitute Larrosa profited from a moment of hesitation in the Sliema defence to sidefoot the ball past the helpless Akanji.

Birkirkara's two-goal spurt came at a juncture when Sliema were re-organising themselves in midfield following a double substitution effected by Farrugia who replaced Brincat with Noel Turner besides sending on Chucks Nwoko for Giglio.

With Sliema now one goal in arrears, Farrugia threw on another striker, Mark Galea, for right-back David Carabott and continued with three at the back. This change of tactics inevitably left the side vulnerable at the back as the reinvigorated Birkirkara sought to use the speed of their forwards to attack the acres of space in the Wanderers' half.

The Blues endured a series of scares late on. On one occasion, the Sliema goalkeeper thwarted Barbara when stopping his goalbound effort with his feet.

Sliema: M. Akanji-6.5, D. Carabott-6 ('80 M. Galea), B. Said-6, J. Chetcuti-6, L. Lombardi-6.5, J. Brincat-7 ('73 N. Turner-5), R. Bajada-6.5, S. Giglio-6 ('73 C. Nwoko-5), I. Woods-6, A. Madzar-7, O. Anonam-6.

Birkirkara: A. Bledzewski-6, M.A. Bonnici-5.5, L. Galea-6 ('82 R. Sammut), P. Monye-6, W. Camenzuli-6, E. Barbara-6, M. Galea-6, R. Briffa-6.5, K. Scicluna-6, G. Mallia-7, A. Ciantar-6 ('72 D. Larrosa-6).

Referee: Chris Lautier.

Scorers: Madzar 5; Camenzuli 75; Larrosa 76.

Yellow cards: L. Galea; Monye; Ciantar; Woods.

BoV player of the match: Roderick Bajada (Sliema).