Under-15's in Knockout final after beating Valletta

by Ayrton Galea - 24th March 2014

Birkirkara FC Under-15's Team continued to show their true potential in the Under-15's Knockout, when last Saturday the Section B Champions eliminated Section A side Valletta FC, with a goal in each half for the final 2-0 score to cruise to the final of the competition.

After the Stripes beat Hamrun Spartans, they went on by eliminating Floriana last Wednesday, before eliminating Valletta FC in the semis, to earn their place in the final of the competition.

Birkirkara will now face Sliema Wanderers in the final, which will be played on Monday, 31 March at the Victor Tedesco Stadium, at 19:00.

The First Half

The Stipes created a good goal scoring opportunity very early on. Karl Caruana went on the run after receiving a through ball but Valletta's number 1 stood his ground to keep the score at 0 - 0.

Birkirkara continued to dominate the game and played for most of the game in Valletta's half. Ten minutes into the first half Birkirkara took the lead. In midst of a chaotic action, Ayrton Attard was alert to find enough space to place the ball into the net.

Moments later it was Valletta's turn to come close. Jake Borg fired a hard shot from 30 meters out but it hit the woodwork. The boys in Stripes replied by increasing their efforts once again and took charge on the pitch. They came close to increase the lead on two occasions in a short space of time, both times thanks to Isaac Ciranna.

The teams headed to the dressing rooms for the half time break with the score reading 1 - 0 in Birkirkara's favour

The Second Half

In the second half Birkirkara once more managed to show their superiority by keeping Valletta in their own half for long stretches.

As a result, the Stripes managed to increase the lead in the opening stages of the second half. Julian Camillieri kept his calm to head the ball home from a well-taken corner-kick by Kyle Mifsud.

With the score at 2-0, the Stripes settled further, and from that point forward the result was never in danger. Having nothing to lose, Valletta started to push more forward, but Birkirkara's rearguard held strong and neutralised all Valletta's attacks with minimum effort.

Birkirkara found a lot of space inside Valletta's defensive half and, in fact, managed to create numerous open goal chances mostly through Karl Caruana, but the Valletta goalkeeper was in exceptional form and managed to keep the result respectable for his team mates.

Very late in the game, the referee disallowed another goal in Birkirkara's favour by Karl Caruana as he judged Karl to have pushed Valletta's last defender. Shortly after, the referee brought the game to a close, and confirmed Birkirkara as finalists in the knock-out competition.

First Eleven: Clyde Aquilina, Jordan Sciberras, Justin Cardona, Julian Camillieri, Nicholas Farrugia, Gary Spiteri, Neil Micallef, Kyle Mifsud, Ayrton Attrad, Isaac Ciranna, Karl Caruana.

Substitutes: Gilmour Sammut, Sergio Conti, Briam Mifsud.

Scorers: Ayrton Attard. Julian Camilleri.

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