Ħamrun Spartans 0
Birkirkara 4
Cilia 10 pen; Buhagiar 69; Grech 90+1, 90+3;

They welcomed him with open arms and coach Paul Zammit yesterday led Birkirkara to their first victory since resuming the reins of the team, albeit the performance was less brilliant than the scoreline might suggest.

A late two-goal flurry by substitute Leighton Grech wrapped up Birkirkara’s emphatic success after Trevor Cilia had given them an early lead from the penalty spot and Angus Buhagiar scored their second midway through the second half.

The Spartans were depleted yesterday as coach Jesmond Zammit was forced to make four changes from the team that started the 4-2 win over Sliema Wanderers.

Gianluca Calabretta and Massimo Grima were serving suspension while Roderick Fenech (cruciate) and Dene Shields (hamstring) were ruled out by injury. It was left to David Camilleri, Lee James Agius, Rupert Mangion and Luis Fernando Silva to make their mark.

By contrast, Paul Zammit named the same line-up that narrowly lost to Valletta last weekend. With Buhagiar starting on the bench after recovering from a minor injury, Zammit again deployed Andrew Decesare at right-back.

Rowen Muscat was handed an advanced midfield role, partnering Paul Fenech behind the attacking trio of Moises Avila, Trevor Cilia and Terence Vella in a 4-1-2-3 formation.

The forward runs of Cilia and Vella on the flanks were a feature of the Stripes’ performance and the latter supplied a delightful angled pass over the top of the Spartans defence to release Cilia who gave Ħamrun their first scare inside the opening five minutes. His effort was finger-tipped over the bar by Spartans goalkeeper Omar Borg.

Birkirkara took the lead after 10 minutes. The back-tracking Silva gave away a penalty when he clipped Vella inside the box and Cilia sent Borg the wrong way from the spot.

The Spartans’ initial plot was to contain their opponents but after going down, they were forced to reshuffle their pack and chase the game.

Ħamrun had to be more adventurous and, after striker Gaetan Spiteri had a shot comfortably saved, team-mate Carlo Polli had an effort tipped over the bar by Birkirkara goalkeeper Jorge Mora after 17 minutes.

Birkirkara began to play on the counter-attack as they grimly held on to their advantage. Vella missed a good chance to calm their nerves in the 33rd minute when he blazed over with only Borg to beat.

Borg was tested again as the interval approached, blocking a swerving drive from Joseph Zerafa as a low-key opening period drew to a close.

As the Spartans tried to gather momentum, Anderson Ribeiro was within inches of giving them the perfect start after the break but he failed to connect with Polli’s crisp cross-cum-shot.

After 54 minutes, Silva, looking to redeem himself for conceding the early penalty from which the Stripes took the lead, raced on to the ball and had a one-two with Ribeiro, only to see his shot hit the post.

With Birkirkara now monopolising possession, the Stripes’ rearguard was rarely tested. But when they were finally called upon, Dragan Perisic displayed his reactions and agility to block Kevin Sammut on the edge of the box.

But the goal that Zammit’s men had long threatened finally came on 69 minutes when Vella slid the ball across goal and into the path of substitute Buhagiar who blasted home at the far post.

Polli then saw red after he got a second yellow card for a late challenge on Buhagiar and a few minutes later, Cilia should have made it three but his grounder hit the base of the far post.

But this heralded a spell of two quickfire goals in three minutes for Grech, who replaced Vella in the closing stages.

A minute into stoppage time, Fenech split the Ħamrun defence wide open, leaving Grech to control and calmly shoot past substitute goalkeeper Andrea Cassar.

Two minutes later, Cassar repelled a close-range shot by Grech but the latter was first to the rebound to stab the ball home for Birkirkara’s fourth and final goal.

The Stripes’ fourth win of the season lifted them to fourth place, level with Qormi on 13 points.

Ħamrun Spartans
O. Borg-6 (72 A. Cassar), N. Gacesa-6, R. Mangion-5 (73 G. Azzopardi), L.J. Agius-5, D. Camilleri-5, A. Ribeiro-6.5, K. Sammut-5, M. Gauci-5, C. Polli, G. Spiteri-5, L. Silva-4.5 (73 C. Toneto Porcari).

Birkirkara
J. Mora-6, T. Cilia-7, J. Zerafa-7, R. Pereira-6, A. Decesare-5 (45 A. Buhagiar-6.5), D. Perisic-7, P. Fenech-6.5, T. Vella-7.5 (85 L. Grech-6), R. Muscat-6.5 (77 A. Tabone), M. Avila-5.5, G. Sciberras-7.

Referee: Chris Lautier.

Yellow cards: Gacesa; Silva; Fenech; Polli; Ribeiro; Buhagiar.

Red card: Polli (Ħ) 75.

BOV player of the match: Terence Vella (Birkirkara).

Attendance: 1,178.

Standings