Birkirkara 1
Sylla 24
Floraiana 1
Darmanin 90
Adamant to maintain their remarkable improvement since the start of the Championship Pool, Birkirkara came into their penultimate league match against Floriana yesterday fully intent on gaining the three points to edge closer to claiming the runners-up spot which would qualify as a commendable feat for a team that underwent a drastic overhaul in personnel in the summer.
A brilliant volley by their Ivorian striker Davy-Amed Sylla after 24 minutes looked to have sufficed for Birkirkara to creep closer to their target but two decisive episodes in the space of a minute, a red card to defender Thomas Paris and the ensuing set-piece, in the dying moments left the Stripes cursing their luck as Floriana were quick to exploit their numerical advantage and struck a last-gasp equaliser thanks to Ryan Darmanin.
Birkirkara are still second in the table with 31 points but yesterday's draw means that Marsaxlokk will displace them if they beat Ħamrun today while Sliema will pull level on points with the Stripes if they manage to break Valletta's long unbeaten run tomorrow.
Birkirkara were the more enterprising side in the early exchanges and on 18 minutes, Cassar made an intelligent run before laying the ball to Mano Micallef who hit it first-time but his shot was blocked by Bernard Paris.
The Stripes endeavoured to regain the initiative and their efforts bore fruit on 24 minutes when Sylla met Shaun Bajada's precise cross from the left with a perfectly-weighted volley which nestled into the far corner of the net.
Floriana's attacking threat was negligible for much of the opening half hour. Six minutes before the break, a prolonged move by the Greens saw Micallef pushing the ball back to Mauro Brincat whose free-kick had just been blocked. The former Ħamrun midfielder tried to surprise Paris with a swerving cross-cum-shot but his effort flew wide.
Birkirkara struggled to regain their earlier fluency in the opening stages of the second half. Their struggles encouraged Floriana to up the tempo of their game but the Greens clearly lacked a cutting edge up front.
Micallef should have done better than direct a tame flick straight at Paris. Amusement for the Birkirkara fans came from a series of chants against their rivals from Valletta who will be in action tomorrow when they face Sliema Wanderers who, along with Marsaxlokk, are challenging the Stripes for a top-three position.
As the second half reached its halfway point, Floriana forced a sequence of corners but these produced no tangible rewards.
On 74 minutes, Floriana should have restored parity when Bolasie served Micallef whose well-struck shot was parried by Paris. Micallef was first to the rebound but shot wide.
Four minutes from time, substitute Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza tormented the Floriana defence with a surging run down the left before cutting the ball back to Tabone whose low strike was blocked by substitute Clifton Ciantar.
In stoppage time, Birkirkara's Thomas Paris was dismissed after he collected a second booking for a late tackle on Bolasie on the left touchline. From the ensuing free-kick, Cassar's looping cross appeared to come off Bolasie and on to Darmanin whose flick was deflected by Hartvig past Paris for a dramatic equaliser.
Birkirkara
B. Paris-7, T. Paris, L. Galea-5, R. Hartvig-6, E. Yanchev-5, P. Fenech-6.5 ('85 A. Ciantar), G. Mallia-6, A. Tabone-6, S. Bajada-6 ('86 M. Anastasi), D.A. Sylla-7, M. Galea-4 ('76 J.P. Mifsud Triganza).
Floraiana
S. Agius-6, J. Briffa-5.5 ('70 C. Ciantar-5.5), Z. Levnaic-6.5 ('80 O. Bugeja), S. Eboh-6.5, D. Pisani-6, C. Cassar-6.5, M. Brincat-6, J. Borg-5 ('56 T. Cilia-5), Y. Bolasie-6, M. Micallef-7, R. Darmanin-5.
Referee: Anton Zammit.
Yellow cards: Pisani; Levnaic; Briffa; Paris; Eboh.
Red card: T. Paris (B) 90.
BoV Player of the match: Davy-Amed Sylla (Birkirkara)