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Season 2009-2010 - First Round ReviewI challenge anyone who, at the beginning of the season, expected Birkirkara to be joint second with just a point behind leaders Valletta, to win 6 matches out of nine, to have the most prolific attack and to be above the likes of Sliema and champions Hibernians at the end of the first round! In that case I am sure that he or she who comes forth is able to answer the following as well: Will 2012 bring our world to an end? One might still argue that the main surprise package this season includes the fact that Qormi topped the league for a good chunk of the first round and Sliema’s inability to find a consistent run and break into the top positions. With Valletta failing to impose themselves and also dropping unexpected points, Floriana struggling less than expected and Tarxien giving a good run for every opponent’s money, Birkirkara’s recent run of form has contributed in increasing interest in this year’s campaign by a few notches, especially for those who have the Stripes at heart. Controversy reigned during pre-season, mainly because of the well known issues regarding Marsaxlokk and Vittoriosa. The general public started to get fed up and, with the championship being halted just one match day after its kick off, many were those who started seriously thinking of not following local football anymore, and some of them might have come to that conclusion. With regards to Birkirkara supporters, this feeling was made worse by the clouds of uncertainty surrounding our club after Mr Victor Zammit stepped down from his role as the club’s Chairperson. This reflected in a sharp decline in attendances at the stadium. Many thought this was going to be the beginning of a painful end for our club, with people stating that it was even too optimistic to make it to the championship pool this season, let alone continue a 13-year unprecedented streak of European qualification. Mind you, everything could still happen as football is unpredictable, but I am sure that pre-season skepticism should by now be history. The work done by the committee, technical staff and the players themselves is, slowly but steadily, having the desired effects on both performances and results. After an acceptable performance in the 3-1 defeat to Valletta in the opening match, we bagged in ten points from a possible twelve, with the best showing ironically being in a 2-2 draw with Hibernians. The wins with Tarxien, Hamrun and Dingli left much to be desired with respect to the overall performance, but at least the points came our way. After the sprightly display against the present champions, were we missed a penalty, went two goals down against the run of play, had a player sent off and managed to stage an excellent comeback, our team had the worst game of the season. Still many of us feel that a defeat was too much in the game against Floriana, with the goal arriving in almost stoppage time in a casual manner, but the fact that we rarely made our on-loan goalkeeper Paris make a decent save says it all. Things turned from bad to worse when our team got eliminated by ‘First Division Side’ Marsaxlokk in the Anniversary Cup on penalties. This was not a bad display by our lads, as they created enough chances in the second half to wrap up qualification, but they could not find the net. This led to the cries for a new striker who was able to apply the finishing touch to our attacking moves. With the transfer window not opening before January, the common thought was that we were hardly going to see our team score, let alone win matches! No one would have thought that the match against Sliema could have provided such a positive turning point. An annihilating three minute spell shattered the Blues’ defence and the three goal margin was never threatened throughout the whole encounter. One might have thought that this could just have been a one-off, but the 4-1 trashing of Msida after being a goal down proved that the previous match had triggered something in our team. Besides the result, those present were treated with entertaining football by the Yellow-Reds, and the end round of applause was more than deserved. The last game of the round pitted us against table-topping Qormi. This was a further test which our lads passed with flying colours. Even when Qormi drew level immediately after our first goal, the game never seemed to be out of our control, and this is underlined by the final 5-2 score line. Solid defending and incisive attacking were the two ingredients that enabled our team to run riot and bring down the highflyers to earth. This was surely the best display of the season so far, and hopefully there is still room for improvement. Up next is the most eagerly awaited match of all, that against arch rivals Valletta. Two important players will be ruled out through suspension, but I am sure that our coach will set the team in such a way that these absentees are not missed. Let us all give the necessary support on Saturday as our team will be facing a mammoth task. One should not forget that we are just at the beginning of the first round and neither a result nor another can be decisive at this stage. Let’s not get carried away in case of a win, or feel doomed in case of a loss. All we expect is a brave display by our lads and we promise them that we will be with them throughout the entire match!! COME ON YELLOWS !!! |