Spartans hold Birkirkara

ĦAMRUN SPARTANS-1, BIRKIRKARA-1

Birkirkara missed the chance to pile the pressure on leaders Valletta as they were held to a one-all draw by Ħamrun Spartans in today’s opening game.

The Spartans emulated their result against Valletta but this time, it was they who opened the scoring early in the second half but Birkirkara saved a point with a late equaliser.

The draw means that Birkirkara are now five points behind Valletta but a win for the latter in today’s second game would take them eight clear at the top.

Ħamrun thought they had taken lead when, eight minutes into the game, Dyson Falzon flicked Dene Shields’s right-wing cross past Birkirkara goalkeeper Michael Fraser but the Spartans’ winger was offside.

At the other end, Birkirkara’s Michael Galea fired a long-range drive that sailed over the bar.

The confident Spartans shared the exchanges with their opponents for much of the first half.

Nikolai Chipev produced an inviting cross from the left and towards Falzon who lifted his shot over the bar.

Birkirkara also created a chance of their own thanks to Karl Pulo who forced his way into the Spartans’ box but his shot was saved in two attempts by Omar Borg.

The game remained balanced but Birkirkara looked to have gained a boost on 25 minutes. From a swift counter-attack, Pulo ran through before passing to Michael Galea whose strike from the edge of the box came off the diving Jovan Vukanic.

Referee Paul Caruana deemed that the Spartans’ right-back had raised his hands to block Galea’s effort and awarded Birkirkara a penalty. Babatunde walked towards the penalty spot but his penalty drive was warded off by the diving Borg.

Scoring chances were few and far between for the remainder of the first half but the Spartans took the game to their opponents at the start of the second half.

Falzon skewed his shot over the bar and Nikolai Chipev dribbled his way into the Birkirkara box but his grounder was beaten away by Fraser.

Ħamrun took a deserved lead nine minutes into the second half when Gaetan Spiteri released Shields who darted into the box from the right and sent his shot through Fraser’s legs.

The Spartans were on top now but they fluffed a clear chance to double their lead when Spiteri swept past Patrick Borg but his mishit pass to Falzon was intercepted by Andrei Agius.

Birkirkara coach Paul Zammit tried to inject life into his team by introducing Terence Vella and Brazilian striker Rodolfo Kumbrevicius for Karl Pulo and Ibrahium Babatunde respectively. Kumbrevicius went close with a header that dropped just wide of the near post following a cross from Nikola Vukanac.

Minutes later, Kumbrevicius headed against the base of the near post from Joseph Zerafa’s inviting wing cross.

Birkirkara’s mounting pressure yielded an equaliser 11 minutes from time when Paul Fenech nudged Vukanac’s cross to Kumbrevicius who stabbed home at the far post.

The champions stayed on the attack as they looked for a winner. Six minutes from the end, Borg denied Birkirkara when saving Kumbrevicius’s close-range header from Galea’s cross.

The Ħamrun goalkeeper further justified his choice as BOV player of the match with another vital save from Fenech’s grounder.