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How Far Can We Go?by Jonathan Spiteri27/01/2010 All Birkirkara supporters wish our team could go all the way and lift the title for the third time in the Club’s history. No doubt there. But is this just a fantastic dream or something that can become reality? This question must be torturing many minds inside the Stripes’ clan, especially when we have now gone nine matches unbeaten (equivalent to a whole round of matches) with the excellent return of seven victories and two draws, against title favourites Valletta and Champions Hibernians. The most recent scalp is that of Floriana, the same team that was last able to beat the Yellow-Reds in the league. During that period, scepticism was the order of the day, as our team failed to impose itself on opponents and found it hard to convert long spells of possession into clear-cut scoring opportunities. That problem was properly tackled and the largest number in the ‘Goals For’ column has been Birkirkara’s for quite a few weeks now. One thing our team might be lacking at the moment is the ability to kill off matches when opportunities rise on the counter attack, thus making our hearts beat a little bit faster than usual towards the end of matches. Last Monday's win of 2 goals to 1 against Floriana had us all chewing on our nails with tension in the dying minutes of the match. 
The bottom line, though, is the fact that we are top of the table level on points with Valletta. Whether people were expecting this or not is another issue. What matters most though, is the self belief the players are showing at present. We had the opportunity to ask Shaun Bajada, the best Gozitan player of the moment, what he thinks about the team’s current league position and if this was expected. He replied: “Yes, I always believed in the squad’s capabilities, no matter what other expectations from outsiders might be.” He added: “There is a marvellous team spirit, which does make all our efforts more effective. The coach’s contribution to all this is of course an essential one. However it is still very early to talk about success.” 
When we mentioned the word ‘Support’, he did not need time to think twice and acknowledge its importance: “Of course, this is very important to us. Your support increases our determination. It makes us believe that we can do it, no matter what.” He is also pleased that the number of supporters is on the increase, but is still no satisfied yet with the level of attendance: “Well in these last few matches, it seems that the support is on the increase. However I do believe that a big town like Birkirkara can offer much more support to this team.” He concluded with an appeal: “Never leave the team alone, especially when things do not go the way we would have liked them to. I can assure you that, we as team, together with the coach and committee, always try our very best for the club and for you – our supporters.” Given the present situation, where each and every game is becoming more and more important, the time to savour a victory is becoming shorter as we go along. I suppose Mr Paul Zammit started thinking about the Sliema game as soon as he ended the team talk at the end of the match against Floriana. First of all he will be assessing the players’ condition, especially those with some injury problems. Carlo Mamo’s addition to the squad was timed to perfection, as unfortunately our steaming left back Joseph Zerafa is out with a calf injury. Carlo had a positive outing against the Greens and most probably he will be patrolling the left flank once again against Sliema. George Mallia and Angus Buhagiar are still ruled out, while Carl Pulo should be available for selection. 
Sliema’s current league position might be a misleading one, as this team was capable of beating Valletta and Hibernians, although losing with the likes of Msida and Hamrun. They are an enigmatic side this season and therefore can turn out to be a dangerous one. One thing we should all agree about: in order to obtain three points, our players need to be at their very best, determined to win every ball and careful not to allow the Blues to play their game. With regards to the upcoming fixture, Bajada told us that “it’s a tough match because they need points, badly. But I strongly believe that if we play as a team (as usual), we will get the three points ourselves.” We all hope that Shaun’s prediction is a reliable one, where our team shows the required ambition and skill in order to bag the three points and let us supporters dream on! COME ON YELLOWS!! |