A glance at Season 2010-11
by Ayrton Galea - 17th May 2011
Birkirkara ended their commitments for this season and we are going to go through the highlights of this season. Although the Premier League campaign could be described as somewhat disappointing one, there were some positive points too.
Euro Challenge Cup
Two defeats in the first Cup of the season
Birkirkara's first involvement in this new season was the Euro Challenge Cup. They were scheduled to play against Sliema Wanderers and Valletta respectively. In both matches Birkirkara's performance was quite a disappointing one as they suffered a 3-1 and a 3-0 defeats to end the involvements in this cup in the last place.
Champions League
Draws
On Monday 21st June, the draws took place in Nyon in Switzerland, and Birkirkara were drawn against Santa Coloma of Andorra. Birkirkara were first play the away leg which was scheduled to take place on the 29th June while the home leg was one week after.
First walk over victory in our history
Birkirkara were scheduled to play their away game against Santa Coloma, but the match was cancelled due to the terrible state of the pitch. On Thursday, 1 July the UEFA decided to hand Birkirkara a 3-0 walkover victory. This meant that 'The Stripes' were almost sure to qualify for the second round for the first time ever.
First Champions League match victory in our history
After being awarded a 3-0 walkover victory, on Tuesday 6 July Birkirkara wrote a new page in their history when they managed to beat Santa Coloma with a 4-3 score. This was the first win for Birkirkara in the Champions League in their history. Thanks to this win, Birkirkara registered one of the biggest aggregates victories as they eliminated Santa Coloma with a score of 7-3.
The first win ever in the second round in Maltese Football
For the second round, Birkirkara were drawn against a very strong team, MSK Zilina of Slovakia. Nobody believed that Birkirkara could do it again. However, on Tuesday 13th July Birkirkara proved everyone wrong as a goal after just forty seven seconds by Nikola Vukanac was enough for Birkirkara to register a 1-0 win. This win meant that Birkirkara were the only Maltese team to register a win ever in the second round of the Champions League.
Birkirkara eliminated with heads held high
In the second leg which was played on Wednesday 21 July Birkirkara could do nothing to stop the Slovakians. The latter beat Birkirkara with a score of 3-0, with the last two goals arriving late in the game to eliminate 'The Stripes' with a 3-1 aggregate. Although Birkirkara were eliminated, they still had their heads held high especially after what they had done in the first round and in the first leg of the second round.
Super Cup
Birkirkara denied in the dying seconds
In a highly entertaining match which was played on Monday 23rd August Birkirkara were denied in the dying second of the second half of the extra time. After a satisfactory performance, it was a goal by Joseph Okonkwo that decided the game and gave 'The Citizens' the cup as they beat 'The Stripes' with a score of 3-2.
BOV Premier League
Matches
Birkirkara played twenty games and they registered 11 wins, nine draws and were defeated 8 times. In total they scored 42 and conceded 40 goals.
In the first round Birkirkara managed to register three wins, against Sliema Wanderers, Hibernians and Qormi. They were held in four draws versus arch-rivals Valletta, Hamrun Spartans, newly promoted Vittoriosa Stars and Tarxien Rainbows. They conceded two defeats, against Floriana and Marsaxlokk. In the first nine matches, 'The Stripes' scored and conceded thirteen goals.
In the second round, Birkirkara managed to win one point more than the first round as 'The Stripes' won fourteen points as they registered four wins, two draws and they were beaten three times. In this round Birkirkara scored eleven goals but they conceded one goal more, that is, 12 goals.
In the Championship Pool phase Birkirkara won 15 points out the maximum of 30 points when they registered four wins, three draws and they were beaten three times. In this phase, 'The Stripes' scored seventeen goals and conceded fifteen goals
The Best round
The best round for Birkirkara was the second one when the 'The Stripes' won fourteen points out of the total of 27 as they registered four wins and two draws while they were beaten three times. Although in the Championship Pool phase Birkirkara registered one point more, in this phase Birkirkara played ten matches and not nine therefore Birkirkara had the best phase of the season in the second round.
This round saw Birkirkara score and concedes the least amount of goals compared to the other rounds, as they scored 11 and conceded 12 goals while in the first round and the Championship Pool phase, Birkirkara scored 13 goals and 15 goals while conceded 13 goals and 15 goals respectively.
Best Phase and Worst phase
The best phase by Birkirkara was registered between the 29th October and the 18th December when 'The Stripes' remained seven matches unbeaten as they won three matches and they were held four times in a draw.
The worst phase for Birkirkara was done between the 15th October and the 4th November when Birkirkara went four matches without a win as first they registered one loss and then three draws.
Biggest Win and Biggest Defeat
There were two matches that Birkirkara registered the best score throughout these 28 games. These were the first match of the Premier League which was played on the 13th September against Sliema Wanderers, and the third Championship Pool match against Marsaxlokk which this match was played on the 12th March. In these two matches, 'The Stripes' emerged as winners with a score of 4-1.
On the other hand the biggest defeat for Birkirkara was in the last match of the third round against Floriana which was played on the 3rd April. On the day Floriana humiliated 'The Stripes' with a score of 5-1.
Player Statistics
The most player that had appearances this season was Emiliano Lattes. He made an appearance in every game this season. He started a match 25 times, and another three times he was included as a substitute. The player that was included as a substitute was Karl Pulo as he was included no less than 14 times
This season Birkirkara's top scorer was Emiliano Lattes as he scored eight goals which this mean a rate of 0.28 goal per match.
Emiliano Lattes continued to distinguish himself as the most consistent player as he was voted no less than seven times as 'BOV Player of the Match'. He is the only Birkirkara player that managed to win the 'BOV Player of the Month' this year, and he received this award in the month of February.
Injuries and Suspensions
In these 28 games Birkirkara never managed to be in full squad and the biggest number not available for selection was in the first match of the league which was played on the 13th September when 'The Stripes' had no less than 8 players ruled out due to suspensions and injuries.
On the other hand, the least amount of players that were not available for selection for Mr. Paul Zammit's side was two.
U*BET FA Trophy
A bye to the Quarter Final
Since Birkirkara placed in one of the first four places the season before, they were awarded a bye to the Quarter final in which they joined Valletta, Qormi and Sliema Wanderers.
In the Semi Finals after a match packed with emotions and goals.
Birkirkara were drawn against Sliema Wanderers and in a difficult match after the ninety minutes the match ended in a 2-2 score. Few minutes in the second half of the second extra time period, Etienne Barbara scored for Sliema Wanderers and the match seemed over. However, Michael Galea had other thoughts as two minutes from the end he equalised with a wonderful volley. In the penalty shoot outs, Manuel Bartolo was the protagonist as he saved two out of the four penalties and Birkirkara booked their place in the Semi Final with a final score of 6-4.
Birkirkara eliminated, and ends their season commitments.
In the Semi Final, Birkirkara faced Floriana and with a below average performance 'The Stripes' were eliminated with a score of 2-1. Floriana were leading with a score of 2-0 and it was a late penalty by Trevor Cilia that gave a shimmer of hope that they could equalise, but this never happened. With this elimination they ended their season commitments.
Local Records
Birkirkara qualified to take part in a UEFA competition for the fifteenth time in a row. This is a record for any local team. They are also the only team to have never played in the relegation pool of the Premier League since the new format was introduced.
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