A Look Back on 2010

by Ayrton Galea - 1st January 2011

As we are in the first hours of the new year, we took the opportunity to look back at the year that has just passed. Here is the review of everything that happened with Birkirkara FC in the last year.

January

2010 opened on a positive note, as on the 3rd January, Birkirkara extended their positive run in the Premier League by beating Hamrun Spartans with a 2-0 score line, thanks to goals by Shaun Bajada and Michael Galea.

The same result was obtained six days later in the match against Dingli Swallows. 'The Stripes' continued to show their strength by beating the "Swallows" and this time, the two goals came from Sylvano Comvalius.

Birkirkara's positive run was halted by a late equaliser on the 18th January, against Hibernians when a last minute goal by Adrian Pulis denied Birkirkara sole leadership, and the yellow-reds ended up sharing the 1st place with Valletta.

"The Stripes" restored their winning streak in the match against Floriana when an own goal and another goal by Michael Galea were enough for 'The Stripes' to pick up the important three points. The match resulted in a 2-1 score in the favour of the current leaders.

After over three months without defeat, a terrible performance against Sliema Wanderers on the 30th January, saw Birkirkara being beaten 1-0, a score which many saw as unfair for "The Blues" as they managed to dominate the yellow-reds for the whole ninety minutes.

February

The second month of the year arrived, and for 'The Stripes' it began well. On the 7th February, Birkirkara got back on the right track thanks to a 2-1 victory over Msida St. Joseph when Michael Galea and Karl Pulo turned the score in favour of the 'Yellow-Reds' after being down 1-0.

Birkirkara emerged as winners for the 2nd consecutive match one week later, on the 13th February. 'The Stripes' managed to beat Qormi with a 2-0 result, thanks to goals by Karl Pulo and Trevor Cilia who were the scorers of the important goals which earned us another three important points.

The Premier League had a one week pause, but Birkirkara played on, as they were involved in the 1st edition of the Gozo Cup which was held between Friday 19th February and Sunday the 21st . In this first edition, Birkirkara competed against eternal rivals Valletta, Hibernians and Gozo XI. Birkirkara won this tournament.

Birkirkara was drawn against Valletta in the first match and 'The Stripes' managed to defeat Valletta thanks to an own goal. In the second match, in front of a good number of supporters who travelled to our sister island, Gozo, to see their beloved team, the yellow-reds beat Hibernians after they managed to defeat Gozo XI. Apart from an interesting experience for the whole team, this victory was the first honour of the year.

The Premier League continued, and the Championship Pool took off. Birkirkara started on a positive note, as they managed to beat Sliema Wanderers with a 2-1 score thanks to goals by Sylvano Comvalius and Trevor Cilia.

March

Just like the previous 2 months, March began on a positive note. On the 6th of March, 'The Stripes' gave another positive performance which saw them defeating Qormi with a 2-0 result. This time, Michael Galea and George Mallia were the scorers for the yellow-reds.

Birkirkara had a satisfying weekend which ended in the best way imaginable. On the 13th March Birkirkara registered an important victory against Hibernians with a 2-1 result thanks to goals by Sylvano Comvalius and Michael Galea. Later on, in the second game of the day, Valletta were defeated by Sliema which put 'The Stripes' as the sole leaders with three points clear.

Unluckily enough, this three points distance between Valletta and Birkirkara remained for only seven days, as on the 20th March, Birkirkara had to make an impressive comeback to equalise and earn a point against Tarxien Rainbows as the final result read 3-3 after 'The Stripes' had been losing 3-1.

The heart and determination of our players in this match are much to be admired; considering their ability to balance out the result after being down by two goals. However, March was not to be remembered by this courageous comeback, but for something more special. It was March 28th, and the game against Valletta had arrived. A win for 'The Stripes' would put the yellow-reds four points clear, while a win for the lilywhites would see them take a sole leadership with a two point difference. A single goal by Trevor Cilia gave 'The Stripes' the important three points and placed them four points ahead of Valletta. Thanks to this win, March could not have ended on a more positive note.

April

The Premier league had another pause, this time due to the U*BET FA Trophy Quarter-finals. Birkirkara was involved in another match against Valletta in less than a week. This time, the citizens were the better side and managed to defeat Birkirkara and knocked them out of this cup but, although the 'The Stripes' got knocked out of the trophy, the league was a very different story, as we shall see!

The Premier League continued, and on the 9th April Birkirkara were involved in the first match out of five to go, Birkirkara could not afford any slip-ups, and in the first out of five matches, Birkirkara picked up another three points as they beat Sliema easily with 3-0 thanks to a goal by Nikola Vukanac and a brace by Trevor Cilia.

As five became four, on the 15th April Birkirkara went through another difficult test against Qormi but thanks to a five-star performance, 'The Stripes' beat Qormi effortlessly with a 3-1 result, this time, thanks to a goal by Sylvano Comvalius and another brace by Trevor Cilia.

Pressure was increasing day after day, and ten days later, on the 25th, against Hibernians, the Premier League seemed to be heading downhill. After just 35 minutes into the game, 'The Stripes' were losing 4-1 and exactly before the half time, Sylvano Comvalius pulled one back for Birkirkara. In the half-time break, Birkirkara F.C. manager, Mr. Paul Zammit delivered what many consider to be the miraculous speech and Birkirkara managed to come back and win the game with a 5-4 score line, thanks to goals by Shaun Bajada and Michael Galea, and the winning goal by Trevor Cilia.

30th April was the date, when the Premier League Champions could be decided as Birkirkara, with four points ahead had to face a tricky test against Tarxien Rainbows; After they had dropped two important points in the previous match, as they were held in a 3-3 draw.

A wonderful goal by Shaun Bajada was enough for 'The Stripes' to win the three points, but more importantly, it was enough to win the Premier League. Birkirkara finally did it! They were named champions! The celebrations which took place in front of the Birkirkara F.C. club, in Valley Road were remarkable. April was now a month to be remembered for many years to come.

May

May began in the best way possible. On Wednesday 5th May, even though 'The Stripes' were defeated with a 4-2 score line by Valletta, Birkirkara received the deserved Premier League title, and once again the celebrations continued until the early hours of Thursday morning.

After this honour, several players had their contract expired and it was not an easy task to re-new all the contracts.

Spanish goalkeeper, Jorge Mora was released by the club and the technical staff had to search for another potential goalkeeper and Branko Nisevic decided to retire.

The first player to re-new his contract was Trevor Cilia as on the 31st May he extended his contract by another three years.

June

On the 1st June, Mr. Paul Zammit held the first training session of the new season after a short break.

On the 3rd June, Angus Buhagiar renewed his contract by another two years.

Andrew Decesare, former Tarxien Rainbows was the first acquisition for 'The Stripes' and on the 12th June, he joined Birkirkara on a two year deal.

Two days after, Shaun Bajada renewed his contract with the Maltese champions for another two year, thus putting all rumors that the Gozitian will be joining another Maltese club to an end.

On the 15th June, Joseph Zerafa extended his contract by another year which will see him playing with the shirt of 'The Stripes' till the 2010-2011 season.

On the 21st June the Champions League draws took place and Birkirkara had to face the champions of Andorra, Santa Coloma, with the first leg scheduled to be played away.

On the same day, Birkirkara took place in the Euro Challenge Cup and in the first match they got defeated with a 3-1 score line by Sliema Wanderers with Shaun Bajada scoring the only goal for 'The Stripes'.

Esequiel Lovizon, a Brazilian Goal Keeper, joined 'The Stripes' on the 22nd June for the next year. On the 21st June, he played the whole ninety minutes against Sliema Wanderers.

On the same day, Alan Tabone and Thomas Paris renewed their Birkirkara F.C. contract by another year.

On the 23rd June, Birkirkara played the second and the final match of the Euro Challenge Cup and 'The Stripes' were easily beaten again, this time against Valletta with a 3-0 score line.

Birkirkara left Malta to Andorra on the 27th June to play their 1st leg of the Champions League against Santa Coloma.

The match was set to be played on the 29th June but the ground was waterlogged mainly due the heavy rain and the match was cancelled.

July

July began with the UEFA's decision about the cancelled match and Birkirkara were awarded a 3-0 walkover victory.

On the 6th July it was time for the home leg. With a 3-0 result in the bag, " The Stripes " were almost in the 2nd round, but thanks to a good performance they had managed to beat Santa Coloma with a 4-3 score line with a brace from both Trevor Cilia and Michael Galea. Thanks to this win, Birkirkara registered a 7-3 aggregate.

On the 13th July, 'The Stripes' were involved in the 2nd round of the UEFA Champions League against a much stronger side, the Slovakian Champions, MSK Zilina. An early goal after just forty-five seconds by Nikola Vukanac was enough for Birkirkara to register a historic victory as no other Maltese team had ever managed to win a game in the 2nd round of the same competition.

Birkirkara managed to achieve the signature of Emiliano Lattes to make him the third new player to sign for the current champions after Andrew Decesare and Esequiel Lovizon had agreed terms with the club. Emiliano, the former Msida St. Joseph player signed a two year deal on the 15th July.

Also on the 15th July, Omar Borg left the club to join Hamrun Spartans on loan basis for the next season.

Shaun Bajada wrote a new page for the club's history, and also for himself, when on the 16th July he was voted 'MFA Footballer of The Year', making him the first ever Birkirkara player to win this award.

It was time for the 2nd leg of the 2nd round and this time as on the 21st July, 'The Stripes' were involved in the away match against MSK Zilina. Two late goals eliminated Birkirkara with a 3-0 score line, but sure enough the Maltese champions ended this adventure with heads held high.

August

The eighth month of the year opened with 'The Stripes' being involved in a friendly tournament on the 3rd August against Qormi and Marsaxlokk, in which they managed to conquer; as they defeated Qormi with a 2-0 score and Marsaxlokk with a 3-2 score.

Four days later, on the 7th August, Birkirkara were involved in a friendly match against the 1st Division side, Mqabba. Birkirkara shared the spoils with Mqabba in a 1-1 draw, with Michael Galea scoring the only goal for Birkirkara.

Birkirkara were involved in another friendly match on the 10th. This time 'The Stripes' faced Luxol St. Andrews, and managed to defeat them with a 2-0 score line thanks to goals by Trevor Cilia and Karl Pulo.

Two days later, Birkirkara were beaten 1-0 against Floriana as 'The Stripes' participated in another friendly match.

On the 20th August, Manuel Bartolo, the Msida St. Joseph goalkeeper agreed terms with Birkirkara to join on loan basis for the next season. On the same day, Birkirkara acquired Terrence Vella on loan for the next season

On the 21st August, Birkirkara were involved in the Super Cup Final against Valletta. In a spectacular match, Valletta managed to win the cup in the dying seconds of the extra-time period with a 3-2 score. After the ninety minutes, the score was 1-1. Several incidents took place in the VIP Area while Birkirkara were being awarded as the finalists.

Birkirkara participated in the Hibernians tournament, and in the 1st match on the 23rd August, Birkirkara shared the spoils in a goal-less draw against Qormi.

In the second game of the tourney, which was played two days later, Birkirkara registered their first win as they managed to beat Marsaxlokk with a 3-2 score, with Emiliano Lattes scoring a brace and Trevor Cilia scoring the other goal.

On the 27th August, Birkirkara were involved in the last match of the tourney against Hibernians, with the latter managing to defeat Birkirkara with a 2-0 result. Birkirkara ended this tournament as runners-up.

In the last day of August, club veteran George Mallia decided to leave the club, and he joined Qormi FC.

On the same day, Scottish defender Ryan Harding signed for 'The Stripes' as the fourth foreigner for this season.

September

September was here, and the new season was about the start. On the 1st day of the month, former Birkirkara winger, Sylvano Comvalius was released after a mutual agreement was reached, to serve the interest of both parties.

On the 10th September, Birkirkara suffered a big drawback when the MFA announced that four Birkirkara players were suspended due to the incidents that took place after the BOV Super Cup final. Patrick Borg, Paul Fenech and Shaun Bajada were suspended two matches each, while the Serbian defender Nikola Vukanac was banned for three matches.

On 13th September, Simon Zahra joined the Maltese Champions as an amateur player.

Birkirkara were involved in their first Premier League match of the season when they faced Sliema Wanderers on the 13th September. Thanks to a 5-star performance, Birkirkara, who were without the services of a number of players managed to humiliate Sliema with a 4-1 score line. On a negative note, Esequiel Lovizon suffered a broken arm, 7 minutes into the match.

On 17th September, Birkirkara were defeated for the first time in the league as Floriana managed to defeat 'The Stripes' with a 2-0 score.

Birkirkara returned to the winning ways on the 25th September thanks to a goal by Terence Vella and a goal in the dying seconds by Emiliano Lattes. Birkirkara beat Hibernians with a 2-1 result.

October

October opened with the Premier League having a two week pause, but the Birkirkara squad did not. First they were involved in a friendly match against Pieta Hotspurs on the 2nd October. Birkirkara beat Pieta with the odd goal scored by the Argentine Emiliano Lattes.

On the 8th October, Birkirkara took part in a triangular tournament against Tarxien Rainbows and Hamrun Spartans which was held at the Victor Tedesco Stadium. In the first match, Birkirkara played against Tarxien, and the latter won thanks to a penalty shoot-out. After the first forty five minutes the score was still goal-less. In the second match, Birkirkara were defeated for the 2nd time as Hamrun Spartans managed to emerge as winners with an odd goal.

With Esequiel Lovizon still injured, and the match against the eternal rivals Valletta round the corner, the committee and the technical staff decided to sign the Scottish goalkeeper Michael Fraser on the 11th October, after the Scottish Goalkeeper had been on trial for several weeks.

Birkirkara held a press conference on the 13th October where the Club's President, Karm Galea, presented the new players for this season which were: Andrew Decesare, Emiliano Lattes, Esequiel Lovizon, Manuel Bartolo, Michael Fraser, Simon Zahra, Patrick Borg (who was returning from to the Clun from a loan) and Terence Vella.

On the 15th October, Birkirkara had to face Valletta in the 1st round of the Premier League. The Citizens seemed to be heading for a win, but ten minutes from the end, Trevor Cilia had different ideas. He fired a powerful shot from outside the box from an angular position and gave Hogg no chance to save. The score was 2-2, with Birkirkara registering their first draw of the season.

On 21st October, the committee signed a three year sponsorship deal with Laferla Insurance Agency Limited.

Birkirkara were defeated by a score of 5-2 against Marsaxlokk on the 24th October, in what was labelled as worst performance of the season for 'The Stripes'.

October did not end on a much of a positive note, as Birkirkara dropped two points in a match against Hamrun Spartans on the 29th October in a match that 'The Stripes' should have won as they were by far the best team on the field.

November

November opened exactly the same way as October had ended, that is, with 'The Stripes' dropping another two important points against Vittoriosa on the 4th November. Nikola Vukanac scored in stoppage time to equalise and salvage a point for Birkirkara.

After a two week pause, the Premier League continued, and for Birkirkara it continued on a positive note as on Sunday 21st November, 'The Stripes' returned to winning ways when they emerged as winners against Qormi with a 2-0 result thanks to a brace by Emiliano Lattes.

Unfortunately enough, this good run did not extend as one week later on the 28th November, Birkirkara dropped another two points in a goal-less draw against Tarxien Rainbows, although one have to mention that the yellow-reds were the better side throughout the ninety minutes but they failed to turn their opportunities into goals.

December

The last month of the year did not start in the best way possible as Birkirkara registered another draw on the 5th December, this time against Sliema Wanderers with a 2-2 result. Both goals for Birkirkara were scored by Alan Tabone.

Finally, Birkirkara returned to winning ways on the 13th December thanks to a goal by Patrick Borg which was enough to beat Floriana. This was Patrick's first goal with shirt of 'The Stripes'.

The Maltese champions extended their positive run to two matches as on the 18th December they easily beat Hibernians with a 3-1 result thanks to a brilliant performance till the half time. The half time score read 3-0, with Hibernians pulling one back in the final few minutes.

With the Premier League having yet another pause, Birkirkara participated in the Charles Abela Memorial Cup on the 29th December against Zejtun Corinthians and hosts Mosta FC.

Birkirkara easily beat Zejtun with a 4-0 score thanks to a couple of braces by Alan Tabone and Karl Pulo. In the 2nd match Mosta defeated Birkirkara in a penalty shoot-out after the match ended in a goal-less draw. However, Birkirkara won the tournament and ended the year with winning another cup.

2010 was a year to be remembered by the whole Birkirkara clan and we all hope that the years to come will bring the same joy that 2010 did!

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