Birkirkara edge closer to title

Birkirkara 3
Comvalius 21; Cilia 29, 40
Qormi 1
Grima 74

Premier league leaders Birkirkara took a giant stride towards the title as they eased past Qormi in emphatic style yesterday.

Seven points clear and three games to go, Birkirkara moved within touching distance of winning the Premier League title as last night they sent a clear statement of intent with a strong performance against Qormi.

Having established a 3-0 lead after the opening 45 minutes, courtesy of two goals from Trevor Cilia and a spectacular strike from Sylvano Comvalius, Birkirkara proved to have too much defensive nous for Qormi.

Qormi were the sharper side in the early stages as Birkirkara struggled to exert some authority against a side that was sitting back and trying to sting the Stripes on the counter-attack.

Inside the first ten minutes, Camilo forced Jorge Mora into a low save with a fierce drive as he sought to complete a characteristically swift counter-attack.

Paul Zammit's side struggled to break down the discipline and organisation of Qormi and they needed a moment of brilliance to break the deadlock and Comvalius duly supplied it on 21 minutes.

Ramon Dos Santos sent Paul Fenech crashing to end Birkirkara's first serious venture towards the Qormi penalty area.

The free-kick was awarded in perfect Comvalius territory and the Dutch striker exacted clinical retribution with a delightful right-foot strike that bent viciously away past Matthew Farrugia.

Qormi's response offered a measure of optimism, and Matthew Bartolo should have levelled when he won a 50-50 ball against Angus Buhagiar, only to strike feebly into the hands of Mora.

It turned out to be a costly miss as Birkirkara exposed all parts of Qormi's vulnerability to double the advantage after 29 minutes.

Michael Galea broke up a Qormi move and raced forward and found Trevor Cilia who swept past Jonathan Bondin with embarrassing ease before powering a shot beyond Farrugia.

For all their possession, Qormi had rarely threatened the Birkirkara goal and they paid dearly for their inability to make their superior possession count.

Cilia continued to prove a chief tormentor for Qormi as he beat Farrugia for the third time with a fierce angled shot after a defence-splitting diagonal ball from Comvalius left him with a clear sight of goal.

This was the cue for Zerafa to introduce Kenneth Spiteri in a bid to absorb the attacking waves on the right flank and limit the damage as the Stripes' pressing was suffocating. With three towering defenders - Spiteri, Dos Santos and Stephen Wellman - Qormi looked quite solid at the back and with Bartolo and Duncan Pisani focusing more on attacking rather than defending, the new set-up gave Qormi fresh impetus.

But Birkirkara showed why they boast the second meanest defence as they continually thwarted Qormi to deny them any clear-cut chances.

Paul Zammit responded to Qormi's second-half comeback by shuffling his resources in midfield with 25 minutes left, replacing Shaun Bajada with Alan Tabone.

But if Birkirkara thought this would pave the way to comfortable conclusion, they were thinking again on 74 minutes when Massimo Grima pulled a goal back for Qormi.

Camilo played a short free-kick for Grima who unleashed a pile driver that arrowed into the bottom corner.

In a predictably hectic finale, Effiong had a shot blocked by keeper Mora when through on goal but, in the process, seemed to have pulled down Joseph Zerafa.

Two minutes from time, substitute Stefan Giglio's strike cannoned off the Birkirkara crossbar.

It was the final act of the drama - and the Birkirkara celebrations illustrated the significance of these three points.

Birkirkara
J. Mora-6.5, T. Cilia-8, B. Nisevic-6 ('73 J Zerafa), N. Vukanac-7, C. Mamo-6.5, R. Muscat-6.5, P. Fenech-6.5, S. Bajada-6.5 ('67A. Tabone), A. Buhagiar-7, M. Galea-6 ('82 G. Mallia), S. Comvalius-7.5.

Qormi
M. Farrugia-6, D. Pisani-6, R. Dos Santos- 6, M. Grima-6, M. Bartolo-5.5, K. Fenech-5.5 ('55 R. Deguara), A. Effiong-7, J. Farrugia-6 ('78 S. Giglio-5), Camilo-6.5, J. Bondin-5 ('46 K. Spiteri-6), S. Wellman-6.

Referee: A. Arciola.

Yellow cards: Nisevic, Buhagiar.

BOV player of the match: Trevor Cilia (Birkirkara).