Birkirkara FC 0 Vllaznia 1
Birkirkara fell behind after just 80 seconds and never recovered against the Albanian side Vllaznia in the first leg of the qualifying round of the Europa league.
The Stripes had 88 minutes to turn the game around but there was no reprieve as they were unable to break down a stubborn visiting defence, which restricted them to only half chances.
The newly central defensive unit made of Andrei Agius – on his final match with the Stripes, and Marcis Savinovs looked disjointed at start and they were a metre or two away from Xheyahir Sukaj as the Albanian striker ghosted past the defence and got to Amarildo Belisha's through ball to slot in as Birkirkara fell behind after just 80 seconds and never quite recovered.
The visitors had the better of things for a while after as Patrick Curmi's side struggled to gel, with Savinovs particularly, looking intimidated by the presence of Sukaj in the Birkirkara's box.
Birkirkara tried to work their way into the game but chances were at a premium.
At the other side, Savinovs was still being overworked by Xheyahir Sukaj. After 18 minutes, Jlir Nallbani's ball was completely misread by the Latvian defender, which permitted the unattended striker to shot on goal.
Birkirkara's inability to penetrate their opponents' defence was summoned up by a penalty shot turned down after 39 minutes when Cilia appeared to fall down under the challenge of Smajlaj.
Leighton Grech's introduction after the break saw Birkirkara adopt a more direct style of play as the nippy midfielder's pace brought a new dimension to their attacking play. Soon after restart, he drove in a splendid cross weighted perfectly to Camilli who tried to make use of his height to trouble the defence.
Yet, the urgency in Birkirkara's play did not last long and they continued to show their frustration almost being compounded when Gocaj failed to connect in front of a gaping goal on the hour stroke.
Muscat gave way to Alan Tabone as Patrick Curmi searched for an answer from his bench after 63 minutes.
But it was Fenech who raised the spirits with a flashing shot which skidded wide for Miroslav Yujodinovic, the Vllaznia goalkeeper, and the goal.
There was danger again in the 76th minute when Tabone swung in a cross from the right and Camilli went fractionally late, throwing back his head for his closest effort on goal.
The Brazilian David da Silva was soon introduced at the Italian's expense, to grateful applause from the Birkirkara crowd. He joined Tabone in attack and there immediately more fluency to Birkirkara's play as the Brazilian took up a front position that made himself available to the Stripes midfielders to exchange quick one-two passes, allowing Fenech, Sciberras to push on.
It was this ploy that won a number of free-kicks close to the edge of the box. Just before the final whistle, Sciberras connected to a ball supplied by da Silva only to see it cleared off by Smajlay and despite a furious goalmouth scramble, the Stripes could not score.