Birkirkara 3
Cilia 44; Galea 53; Babatunde 83;
Tarxien Rainbows 0
The final scoreline may suggest that Birkirkara’s troubles are behind them but that was not the case.
Another below-par performance is unlikely to have provided coach Paul Zammit with any real answers about their dip in form but, on the positive side, the Stripes at least showed that they can still grind out a result despite not playing well.
The Birkirkara coach decided to watch the opening period from the stands as he tried to make sense of what was happening to his erratic side. And the contrast could hardly have been starker from up there as he watched his side sleepwalk their way in what was a must-win game.
On one side, Tarxien played with the freedom that comes from having nothing to lose and everything to gain.
On the other side, the current champions looked sloppy with their players crippled by fear and increasingly frustrated by their own shortcomings. Their fans put the banners upside down in protest at Birkirkara’s 5-1 thrashing by Floriana the previous week.
The second period was a lot better for Birkirkara despite their struggles to build up any form of possession. Yet, this victory was priceless for the champions as it pushed them back up to second place, level with Floriana on 24 points. However, more soul-searching is needed if Birkirkara are to rediscover the form that led them to the title last season.
Tarxien coach Noel Coleiro deployed Ryan Mintoff and Julian Vella to shield the back four and keep a close eye on Shaun Bajada and Rowen Muscat. Coleiro stuck with a 4-2-3-1 approach.
Suspension deprived Zammit of defender Andrei Agius. The latter was replaced by Joseph Zerafa but the Birkirkara coach did not restrict himself to one change only.
Ryan Scicluna and Emiliano Lattes paid the price for their team’s lame showing in the 5-1 loss to Floriana as they made way for Ibrahim Babatunde and Bajada.
Zammit took the opportunity to switch systems as well as personnel, going back to his favoured 4-3-3 formation with Michael Galea between Trevor Cilia on the right and Babatunde on the left.
Initially, Birkirkara looked to be up for the task when Tarxien defender Lee Galea effected successive blocks on Cilia and Galea following a cross from Babatunde after 11 minutes.
Eight minutes later, the Rainbows fans shouted ‘goal’ when Sergio headed the ball into the net but referee Chris Lautier ruled it out for offside.
Three minutes later, Cilia showed quick feet to work his way into a shooting position only to see David Cassar palm away his effort.
After 27 minutes, Vella’s outswinging corner was powerfully headed onto the base of the post by Ricardo.
The momentum was clearly with the Rainbows as Sergio saw his low effort blocked when coming face to face with Manuel Bartolo in the 35th minute.
Tarxien looked to be in control until Birkirkara put their noses ahead against the run of play.
The Rainbows’ tight defence was unlocked by a neat three-man move as Babatunde sprinted into the box from the left and cut the ball back for Galea who set up Cilia to prod home a minute before half-time.
The second half started on an excellent note for the improved Birkirkara.
Nikola Vukanac split the opponents’ defence with a perfectly-weighted ball to send Galea through on goal. The Birkirkara captain lobbed the ball over the onrushing Cassar to put Birkirkara 2-0 ahead eight minutes into the second half.
Instead of building on that early boost, the Stripes seemed to abandon their slick passing in favour of long balls.
With 18 minutes left, Babantunde curled his shot wide of the far post.
Ten minutes from time, Cristiano flicked the ball to Bueno but Bartolo reacted to snuff out the danger.
But Tarxien’s hopes of finding a route back into the game fizzled out when, with seven minutes left, Paul Fenech pinged the ball into space and Babatunde ran through before hitting past Cassar.
Birkirkara
M. Bartolo-6, I. Babatunde-6, A. Decesare-5.5, T. Cilia-6.5 (62 E. Lattes-5), J. Zerafa-5, P. Fenech-5.5, R. Muscat-6, N. Vukanac-6.5, S. Bajada-5.5 (79 R. Scicluna-6), M. Galea-7 (85 R. Kumbrevicius), A. Buhagiar-6.5.
Tarxien Rainbows
D. Cassar-6, Everton-6, G. Calabretta-5 (57 S. Hili-5), Ricardo-6.5, Sergio-5 (57 Cristiano-6), D. M. Bueno-6. L. Vella Critien-5.5 (74 S. Sadowski), J. Vella-6.5, R. Mintoff-6.5, L. Galea-6, J. Grioli-5.5.
Referee: Chris Lautier.
Yellow card: Buhagiar.
BOV player of the match: Michael Galea (Birkirkara).
Attendance: 706.