Valletta 2
Borg 16; Barry 82;
Birkirkara 1
Scicluna 53;
Hamza Barry handed Valletta the initiative in their duel with Birkirkara for the runners-up spot as his 82nd-minute winner enabled the Citizens to overcome their rivals by the odd goal in three yesterday.
Valletta fully deserved to take all points as they looked the more enterprising side for most of the 90 minutes and, inspired by the hard-working Barry and his indefatigable midfield partners Roderick Briffa and Ryan Fenech, they outplayed the Stripes who struggled to create any danger to their opponents’ goal.
In fact, it was a howler by Nicky Vella that handed the Stripes a way back into the match early in the second half when Ryan Scicluna profited from the Valletta goalkeeper error to bundle home the equaliser.
But despite that setback, Valletta kept hold of their nerves and their persistency was rewarded with Barry’s winner that lifted the Citizens above Birkirkara on 44 points, two clear with only two matches to go.
Birkirkara coach Paul Zammit handed a recall to goalkeeper Justin Haber. He was preferred from Mirza Hamzabegovic who had guarded the Stripes’ goal against Żebbuġ the previous week. Joseph Zerafa and Mauricio Latini Mazzetti returned from suspension with Mattheus Bissi and Nasser Maachi dropped from the starting formation.
Valletta also effected a change in goal as Vella started ahead of Pietro Marino.
Luke Dimech and Barry were back from suspension with the former replacing Hilary Ikenna while Barry was in and Llywelyn Cremona among the substitutes.
The match was a war of nerves in the opening minutes with both sides trying to seize the initiative.
The equilibrium was broken on 16 minutes. Valletta were awarded a corner from which Abdelkarim Nafti’s inswinger was misjudged by Haber and in came Steve Borg to head the ball into the net.
Four minutes later, the Citizens almost doubled their lead when Barry’s cross-shot caught Birkirkara unawares but Lateef Elford Alliyu could not make contact with the ball in front of a gaping goal.
It was all Valletta and on 26 minutes Briffa’s delightful chip released Nafti whose attempted lob finished just wide.
Seven minutes later, Valletta almost caught Birkirkara napping again when in a swift break, Nafti put Elford Alliyu clear but the Englishman was thwarted by a timely tackle from Zerafa who cleared the danger.
Birkirkara’s first attempt at goal arrived on 36 minutes but Rafael Ledesma’s grounder lacked power to trouble Vella.
Haber was forced to charge out of his goal on 43 minutes to anticipate the goalbound Elford Alliyu after he was played in by Fenech.
Then, a minute from half-time, Bir-kirkara protested for a penalty when Camenzuli was brought down in the area by Dimech. However, referee Adrian Azzopardi deemed otherwise and awarded the Stripes an indirect free-kick for dangerous play.
Paul Zammit, the Birkirkara coach, tried to infuse more firepower on the restart when he withdrew Camenzuli and introduced Liliu.
But Valletta continued to run the show. Barry picked Nafti on the edge of the area and the Tunisian quickly released Bajada whose shot was dealt with by Haber.
Birkirkara were handed a way back into the match on 53 minutes when from a corner Vella fumbled the ball in an attempt to hold Ledesma’s cross and in came Scicluna who hit home the equaliser.
Valletta tried to regroup from that setback and on 59 minutes Haber did well to block Barry’s rasping drive in two attempts.
The Citizens remained the brighter side and on 73 minutes Barry was again denied by the alert Stripes keeper.
Thirteen minutes from time Valletta protested for a penalty when Nafti fell inside the box following an aerial challenge with Mazzetti Latini. Again, the referee saw nothing untoward.
However, the City fans were soon celebrating as Zach Muscat inadvertently headed towards the unmarked Barry who had an easy task in beating Haber from close in.
Valletta almost made it 3-1 late on when Ian Azzopardi sent a low cross towards Barry whose shot was blocked by Haber. From the rebound Nafti missed the target.
Valletta
N. Vella-5, J. Caruana-6.5, S. Borg-6.5, R. Camilleri-6.5, R. Fenech-7, H. Barry-8 (90 N. Pulis), R. Briffa-7, L. Elford Alliyu-5.5 (72 L. Cremona), S. Bajada-6.5 (62 I. Azzopardi-6), A. Nafti-7.5, L. Dimech-7.
Birkirkara
J. Haber-5, R. Ledesma-5, N. Vukanac-5, M. Latini Mazzetti-6, J. Zerafa-6.5, E. Herrera-5, P. Fenech-6, Z. Muscat-4 (82 K. Zammit), R. Muscat-6, R. Camenzuli-5.5 (46 Liliu-5), R. Scicluna-6.5 (75 M. Bissi).
Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.
Yellow cards: Dimech, Azzopardi, Nafti, Z. Muscat, Borg.
BOV player of the match: Hamza Barry (Valletta).