Tarxien Rainbows 0
Birkirkara 2
Galea 11; Mallia 78
Birkirkara made amends for their opening day defeat against Valletta with a hard-fought victory over Tarxien Rainbows.
Birkirkara picked up all points courtesy of Michael Galea's early opener - when he stroked the ball home from a Mallia cross - and a late headed goal from Mallia.
In the end, the scoreline was too harsh on Tarxien who had staged a second-half fightback. But still, they sorely missed the presence of striker Anderson Ribeiro as their cutting edge upfront was almost negligible.
For Birkirkara, George Mallia was one of the best players on show, producing a wonderful piece of skill when releasing Galea for the first goal and then found the time to provide the killer goal that all but ended Tarxien's hopes.
The Rainbows effected four changes to the team that beat Dingli Swallows 4-1 last week. Ribeiro, who was serving a one-match ban, was replaced by returning midfielder Andrew Decesare.
Warren Chircop was deployed as a lone striker by coach Noel Coleiro who tried to match up with Birkirkara's tendency to use three central midfielders and therefore put Mark Tanti, David Camilleri and Denni Dos Santos to challenge Paul Fenech, Shaun Bajada and Mallia.
Chircop ended up too isolated as Coleiro's side packed the midfield. That might not have been the intention, but that is how it turned out.
Short on pure strikers, Coleiro's counterpart at Birkirkara, Paul Zammit, fielded Michael Galea ahead of the not fully fit Sylvano Comvalius while Trevor Cilia was detailed to provide support from the wings.
Defender Ron Hartvig was included in the starting formation of what was his last match for the Stripes as the Dane is set to retire from the game due to work commitments.
Birkirkara took just 11 minutes to exert their superiority thanks to a fine combination between Mallia and Galea.
Mallia sent a precise pass from the left flank towards Galea, who outmuscled his marker before applying the finishing touch with a low shot.
David Camilleri fired a free-kick wide on 13 minutes, before Luke Vella Critien failed to capitalise on a defence lapse by the Stripes as with a free strike on goal, the nippy midfielder shot wide in what was Tarxien's most dangerous moment of the opening period.
On the half-hour mark, Birkirkara should have doubled their lead but Cilia skewed his effort wide with the goal at his mercy.
A lull in play followed as Tarxien began to read Birkirkara's attacking tactics. Coleiro realised that the containing game his team were playing would not win them any points and made a substitution at half-time with Gianluca Calabretta coming on for Kurt Magro and Tarxien's set-up improved almost straight away.
Within moments of restart, Vella Critien sent a swirling shot just over the bar. Soon after, Birkirkara goalkeeper Jorge Mora produced a smart save to keep out a free-kick by Pereira.
Tarxien's sudden revival, driven by Vella Critien's work ethic, Dos Santos's improvement on a dire first half and Camilleri's refusal to submit, brought the game to life.
On 55 minutes, Birkirkara were lucky to preserve their lead when Calabretta hit the foot of the post.
Tarxien pushed forward in a desperate effort to equalise and referee Adrian Azzopardi disallowed Chircop's equaliser for a hand ball infringement after 65 minutes.
Instead, it was Birkirkara who doubled their lead after 78 minutes when Cilia delivered a cross towards Mallia who headed past Curmi.
From then on it was Birkirkara all the way as the Stripes easily administered their lead to pick up their first points of the season.
Tarxien
A. Curmi-6, S. Sadowski-5.5('75 L. Galea), D. Camilleri-6, E. Pereira-6.5, M. Tanti-5, A. Decasare-5.5, W. Chircop-5 ('70 J. Shead), L. Vella Critien-6.5, D. Dos Santos-7, R. Mintoff-5.5, K. Magro-5 ('46 G. Calabretta-6).
Birkirkara
J. Mora-6.5, A. Scicluna-5.5, T. Paris-6, P. Fenech-6, T. Cilia-7, M. Galea-6.5 ('55 A. Tabone), R. Hartvig-6, S. Comvalius-5('70 A. Buhagiar), S. Bajada-6.5, J. Zerafa-6, G. Mallia-8 ('83 K. Pulo).
Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.
Yellow cards: Bajada, Sadowski, Chircop.
BoV Player of the Match: Denni Rocha Dos Santos (Tarxien Rainbows).