U17 Birkirkara and Hamrun in a goalless draw

by Ayrton Galea - 11th November 2013

Birkirkara Under-17's Team registered their first draw of the APS Bank Under-17's League when in a balanced match with nothing to separate both sides, the match ended in a goal-less draw.

Having conceded three consecutive defeats, the Stripes were all out to take something from this match as they needed to improve their lowly position in the standings. They played a good match and their attitude was rewarded by collecting their first point in the league.

It was a generally dull match as the drab encounter provided few scoring opportunities, much to the credit to both teams who did their utmost not to concede an inch to their opponents.

The First Half

The game started on a high tempo with both Birkirkara and Hamrun trying to take command of the game.

With both teams struggling to penetrate, scoring opportunities were very rare as both goalkeepers were hardly tested. Both sides were having a good match, but they were doing just enough to cancel each other's effort.

The best chance of the first half fell to Clint Zammit when he was provided with a good pass from Ryan Muscat on the edge of the box but Clint's shot missed the target marginally. The Spartans were finding it very difficult to penetrate Birkirkara's defensive block and were mainly dangerous through set pieces.

The end of the first-half found both sides struggling to penetrate and the score was still goal-less.

The Second Half

Following a drab first forty-minute, one would have expected that one side or another will earn an edge in the second half, but this was not the case. Both sides remained compact and concentrated, and they failed to give any space to their opponents.

Scoring opportunities continued to be rare, as most of the possession was being played in the middle of the field as both sides failed to penetrate.

Hamrun remained to be a continuous threat through their set prices. On the other hand, Birkirkara had a great opportunity when Fabien Lufi passed to Clint Zammit who managed to go past two Hamrun defenders from the right side of the pitch into the penalty area but his assist to Wayne Farrugia on the edge of the small area was not precise.

With both sides failing to find the net, the referee's full time whistle found the Stripes collecting their first point of the league, while they look forward with optimism to continue improving their performance and their position in the league standings.

Starting Eleven: Luke Chircop, Carl Abela, Darren Buttigieg, Zachary Cassar, Maximilian Borg Bartolo, Andre Debono, Michael Zammit, Fabien Lufi, Ryan Muscat, Clint Zammit, Wayne Farrugia,

Substitutes: Alistair Micallef, Aaron Montebello, Nigel Bugeja, Benjamin Galea, Jeremy Cassar, Jean Claude Grech, Bjorn Brincat.

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