Birkirkara 2
Pietà Hotspurs 0
Birkirkara bounced back from the 3-1 upset to Marsaxlokk with a comfortable victory over Pietà Hotspurs to reclaim a top-six position in the standings.
Two goals either side of half-time were enough for John Buttigieg's side to collect maximum spoils from what turned out to be an easy outing in which Birkirkara goalkeeper Omar Borg was hardly ever tested.
Perennial strugglers Pietà Hotspurs are once again embroiled in the relegation tussle. Msida's surprise victory over Hamrun Spartans in yesterday's first match meant that Carmel Busuttil's team have now slipped to second from bottom, two points behind the Saints.
The Pietà mentor was again hindered by selection problems as Carl Sammut, Glanville Goodlip and Pierre Aquilina were all unavailable. Last week, the club parted company with Bulgarian defender Peycho Deliminkov while influential skipper Martin Deanov had to skip yesterday's match as he was sick.
With Quilin Refalo serving a one-match ban and Bulgarian Rumen Galabov not fully fit, the Hotspurs stuck to their policy of relying on a number of youngsters as Francesco Sulas and Randall Refalo were handed a rare start.
In the corresponding first round fixture, Pietà had caused quite a stir by beating ambitious Birkirkara 2-1. Yesterday, there were no signs that Busuttil's youngsters could repeat their first-round upset.
The Stripes dominated from start to finish and only some excellent saves by Mark Vella and poor finishing prevented them from achieving a more pronounced victory.
After a rather quiet start in which the Hotspurs seemed capable of keeping the Stripes forwards at bay, Birkirkara gradually gained the upperhand.
The clock marked 26 minutes of the game played when Birkirkara created their first scoring opportunity. Alan Tabone dribbled his way into the box before squaring the ball to Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza whose shot was deflected away for a corner by a Pietà defender.
Three minutes later, the Birkirkara forward came close again but his effort was somehow kept out by Vella.
The Hotspurs were clearly struggling to contain the relentless running of the Stripes' attacking trio of Mifsud Triganza, David Ahmed Sylla and Tabone.
Pietà's resistance was finally breached on the half hour when Lino Galea's cross was met by the towering Sylla who beat Vella with a firm header.
Needing a win to improve their chances of claiming a Championship Pool spot, Birkirkara were in no mood to dish out favours as they continued to pile the pressure on the Hotspurs defence.
Two minutes after their breakthrough, Vella pulled off a fine save from Paul Fenech's close-range shot after the Stripes midfielder was set up by Roderick Sammut.
Three minutes from the break, Ryan Camilleri came to Pietà's rescue when clearing off the line Mifsud Triganza's header after Vella fumbled what looked like a straightforward save.
Tabone, voted player of the match yesterday, could have doubled Birkirkara's advantage with the last kick of the half but Vella was once again on the alert to thwart the danger.
After the change of ends, Birkirkara's dominance was evident from the initial moments of the second half. After four minutes, Tabone was unlucky to see his curling free-kick come off the bar.
On 57 minutes, Tabone turned provider with a floating free-kick towards the centre of the penalty area from where the lanky Ronnie Hartvig headed the ball into the net despite a crowd of players guarding Vella's goal.
On the hour, Sylla attempted a spectacular volley as he connected with Mifsud Triganza's inch-perfect cross from the right but the ball failed to hit the target as Birkirkara maintained a clear edge over their off-colour opponents.
As the end of the game approached, the Stripes moved into cruise control. With 16 minutes left, Michael Galea replaced Sylla who seemed to have suffered a knock.
Birkirkara: O. Borg-6, R. Sammut-6 ('87 T. Paris), L. Galea-6.5, R. Hartvig-6.5, E. Yanchev-6, P. Fenech-6.5, G. Mallia-6.5, S. Bajada-6.5, A. Tabone-7 ('76 M. Anastasi), D. A. Sylla-7 ('74 M. Galea), J.P. Mifsud Triganza-7.
Pietà: M. Vella-6.5, C. Cassar-5, B. Sciberras-6 ('71 R. Galabov), S. Ciscaldi-5 ('76 S. Grech), C. Pulo-5, R. Refalo-5 ('61 Mel. Vella-5), S. Kondev-5.5, D. Mifsud-5, E. Herrera-5, R. Camilleri-5, F. Sulas-5.
Referee: Andre Arciola.
Scorers: Sylla 30; Hartvig 57.
Yellow cards: Mifsud; Kondev; Herrera; Mifsud Triganza.
BoV Player of the match: Alan Tabone (Birkirkara).