Birkirkara 1
Cilia 65 penalty;
Floriana 2
Caruana 23; Farrugia 60;
The final game of the 2010/11 season will be a repeat of last year’s National League 100 Anniversary Cup showdown between sporting foes Floriana and Valletta after the Greens booked their place in the final of the FA Trophy in yesterday’s second semi-final.
“We’re coming for you” and “We’re gonna win the cup” sang the delirious Floriana supporters during post-match celebrations after seeing their team maintain their upward trajectory with another brisk and tenacious showing.
As is often the case in cup ties, this semi-final was a tight and cagey affair but Floriana relied on tactical cohesion and Christian Cassar’s deadball prowess to overcome Birkirkara whose insipid display encapsulated their stuttering season.
Paul Zammit, the Birkirkara coach, had spoken of his determination to end his side’s dismal record against Floriana this season but cometh the hour, his players failed to rise to the challenge.
Despite ending the game with an affluence of forwards, including five foreigners – an oversight which perhaps highlighted Zammit’s growing despair, Birkirkara not only lacked fluidity, they were hapless at the back, often struggling to deal with the sheer quality of Cassar’s crosses inside the box.
Chris Caruana and Tyrone Farrugia may have scored the goals that propelled Floriana into the final but the architect of their success was Cassar whose clever movement and exquisite distribution only served to expose the weaknesses of this Birkirkara team.
The spontaneous celebrations of the Floriana fans showed how much this victory meant to them, one that gives them a chance to end their trophy drought. And nothing would make them happier than to win it against Valletta who are gunning for a treble.
Zammit made no fewer than five changes yesterday as goalkeeper Michael Fraser, Nikola Vukanac, Trevor Cilia, Joseph Zerafa and Andrew Decesare were restored to the starting XI at the expense of Manuel Bartolo, Ryan Scicluna, Rowen Muscat, Ryan Camenzuli and Ibrahim Babatunde.
The old football adage “never change a winning team” apparently cut no ice with Floriana coach Michael Woods who made three alterations from his side’s 3-0 win over the Stripes in their previous outing.
Ivan Woods, Pablo Doffo and Christian Caruana were back as Clyde Borg and Joseph Borg, who notched a brace in the previous game, had to make do with a place on the bench while Duncan Pisani was unavailable.
Apart from goalkeeper Lotfi Saidi, who was serving a one-match ban, the other notable absentee for Floriana was veteran defender Brian Said.
Lifted by their strong finish to the league campaign, the Greens signalled their intent to attack from the outset. The game was barely two minutes old when Christian Cassar’s corner sailed into the box where Daniel Nwoke directed a downward header that was flicked goalwards by Ivan Woods but the latter’s effort was deflected away for a corner.
As if to demonstrate his team’s own positive intentions, Birkirkara’s Andrei Agius hit a long-range drive that was stopped by Matthew Towns. In next to no time, Birkirkara were driving forward with menace as Emiliano Lattes drifted into the box from the left but his angled drive was kept out by Towns.
Lattes and Cilia played either side of Michael Galea, Birkirkara’s attacking fulcrum, as Zammit kept faith with a 4-3-3 module.
It was clear from the opening exchanges that Birkirkara’s three forwards had been given instructions to vary their movement and swap positions to confuse Floriana’s defenders. On one occasion, Galea dropped deep to receive a pass before releasing Lattes who was closed down by Towns.
Nwoke played at the tip of Floriana’s diamond formation with Woods and Dragomir Draganov offering support from behind but the latter’s participation was cut short by injury after 18 minutes. Clyde Borg replaced the Bulgarian.
Fears that the early substitution might have unsettled Floriana quickly dissipated as the Greens enjoyed a brief spell of sustained pressure. Birkirkara had already betrayed signs of uneasiness in coping with Cassar’s set-pieces when, 23 minutes into the game, another corner from the Floriana midfielder spread panic in the Stripes’ box.
Thomas Paris nodded the ball in the goalmouth and towards Caruana whose close-range header took a decisive deflection off Zerafa on its way into net.
For the umpteenth time this season, Birkirkara had been found wanting at the back.
One-nil down, the Stripes tried to rally but their efforts were too confused to pose any danger to the Floriana rearguard.
It was no surprise that most of the Birkirkara players looked dejected as they walked towards the tunnel at half-time.
Zammit’s response to his team’s lethargic display was to introduce Babatunde for Decesare while Lattes switched to left midfield.
For much of the opening 10 minutes of the second half, creative football was at a premium with both teams often resorting to long diagonal balls to gain ground.
With their team in the driving seat, the Floriana fans were the more upbeat lot and their enthusiasm increased when the score became 2-0 on the hour mark.
Once again, danger stemmed from a deadball situation as Cassar’s cross from a left-wing free-kick dropped into the centre of the box where Caruana stooped to flick the ball across and Tyrone Farrugia prodded home from close in.
The Birkirkara supporters looked on incredulously as Floriana celebrated their goal but they received a much-needed pick-me-up five minutes later. Agius’s shot from outside the box looked innocuous but as Farrugia threw his body in the way, the ball looked to come off his groping hands. The referee pointed to the spot and Cilia drove the penalty past Towns to resuscitate Birkir-kara’s hopes.
Zammit threw on Shaun Bajada for Angus Buhagiar to inject more flair into his side’s attacking charge.
But, with minutes left, it was Floriana who squandered a glorious chance to wrap up the match when Cassar’s measured cross from the left flew to Nwoke who headed wide with an open goal at his mercy.
Reprieved, Birkirkara almost scored at the other end when Babatunde teed up Bajada but the latter miscued his attempt from the six-yard box.
Ten minutes from time, Zammit played his last card as he brought on Brazilian forward Rodolfo Kumbrevicius for defender Patrick Borg.
It probably escaped Zammit’s attention that Kumbrevicius’s in-clusion increased the number of foreign players to five, one more than the permitted quota.
With Birkirkara throwing caution to the wind in search of an equaliser, Floriana were finding more space up front. Nwoke really should have killed the tie as he ran on to a pass unchallenged but his drive was off target.
Cassar had a central effort saved by Fraser. In a tense finale, Galea just failed to make contact with the ball at the far post and Baba-tunde’s diagonal effort was blocked by Farrugia.
Birkirkara
M. Fraser, N. Vukanac, A. Agius, P. Borg (80 R. Kumbrevicius), A. Decesare (46 I. Baba-tunde), T. Cilia, P. Fenech, J. Zerafa, E. Lattes, M. Galea, A. Buhagiar (67 S. Bajada).
Floriana
M. Towns, O. Bugeja, P. Doffo, T. Farrugia, M. Micallef, T. Paris, C. Cassar, C. Caruana, I. Woods, D. Draganov (18 C. Borg), D. Nwoke.
Referee: Andre Arciola.
Yellow cards: Caruana; Borg; Agius; Farrugia; Woods; Babatunde; Doffo.
Attendance: 1,985.