BIRKIRKARA 0 BALZAN 1

A 1-0 defeat to neighbours Balzan, the same team that had inflicted the first loss in a procession of below par performances last September, brought a disappointing end to a very opaque league campaign for Birkirkara.

Mifsud Triganza profited from the slack defending of his opponents to create a good scoring chance after 33 minutes but his long-range lob finished over. But two minutes later, he made no mistake as the former Birkirkara player showed great skills to life a cheeky lob over the onrushing Mirza Hamzabegovic from a tight angle after being served by Micallef. This goal helped the Reds’ striker to reach a personal milestone by scoring his 117th Premier League goal.

Four minutes from half-time, a good Stripes move set up Liliu but his pulverizing drive brought a one-hand save from Steve Sultana.

The tied kept drifting towards the Stripes’ half after the break with Micallef also doing useful work on the left flank. In the 56th minute, the winger was blocked by Matheus Bissi as soon as he went into the box. Micallef floated the back in the goalmouth but Mifsud Triganza’s effort was blocked by the rearguard.

Heeding the alarm signals, Birkirkara moved in earnest to redirect the pressure on their opponents. Ledesma was brought in to re-ignite their sterile forward line. Birkirkara twice threatened to equalise but Edmond Agius’s effort, a scrambled shot was blocked by Hamzabegovic and then Ryan Camenzuli’s shot flashed wide.

The fare was quite lively as the Stripes tried, albeit unsuccessfully to redress the imbalance. Liliu remained in the thick of things and after 77 minutes, Sultana performed another smart save to tip the Brazilian’s effort over the bar.