Birkirkara last in Christmas Tournament

by Ayrton Galea - 4th January 2011

Birkirkara finished in the third and final place of this year's Christmas Cup edition when on Sunday afternoon 'The Stripes' suffered two defeats against Hamrun Spartans and Padova.

After last Wednesday's debut for Ryan Camenzuli with the senior squad, on Sunday he was utilised again and he left a very good impression once more. Michael Camilleri who was introduced to the senior squad last season, was selected with the starting eleven for the first time.

In the first match of the tournament, Birkirkara suffered what many may consider as an unfair defeat as they were the best team on the field. Ryan Fenech scored the important goal for Hamrun Spartans from a direct free-kick in the 23rd minute. Birkirkara immediately went for the equaliser. In the 25th minute Karl Pulo missed a good chance from inside the small box, but the shot went over the bar. A minute later a powerful shot by Terence Vella was blocked by the goalkeeper. In the dying minutes of the match, Hamrun's defender Steve Bonnici was shown the red card for a harsh foul from behind on Alan Tabone, who was approaching the box with just the goaler to beat.

In the second game, Birkirkara failed to keep up with the Italian Serie B side of Padova as the latter dominated the whole forty-five minutes and it was no wonder that they managed to beat Birkirkara 2-0, besides hitting the post a remarkable 4 times. On the 16th minute, Antonio Di Nardo put Padova ahead and Stephan El Shaarawy doubled the score for Padova three minutes from the end.

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