ĦAMRUN SPARTANS  0

BIRKIRKARA    1

Montebello 84

Birkirkara needed a late goal from Luke Montebello to overcome Ħamrun Spartans at the National Stadium.

The Stripes created the first chance of the match oneight minutes, in a quick counter attack, Carlos Alberto released Kurt Zammit who sprinted inside the area but his low shot was blocked by Steve Sultana, the Ħamrun goalkeeper.

A minute later, the woodwork denied the Spartans an opener when Davide Succi’s deflected shot had the better of goalkeeper Philip Schranz with the ball coming off the upright.

Ħamrun kept in control but for all their possession they rarely threatened the Stripes defence as their final ball left much to be desired.

Seven minutes from the break, Marco Criaco’s cross was headed goalwards by Daniel Zerafa with the ball just missing the bar.  

On the restart, Zammit withdrew Kurt Zammit and roped in Bruno Fernandez de Brito as he looked to addmore firepower.

In the second half, Birkirkara finally started to threaten and on 56 minutes Ryan Camenzuli hit a firm drive that was pushed away by Sultana.

On 66 minutes, the Stripes sent on Grec h at the expense of Herrera as Zammit tried to infuse more creativity.

The match remained tight with the next scoring opportunity coming on 78 minutes but Mislav Andelkovic’s shot was blocked by Sultana.

Six minutes from time, Birkirkara struck the winner.

From a De Brito Fernandez free-kick, Grech’s low drive was turned into the net by Montebello to the delight of the Stripes fans.