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The Moment Of Truthby Jonathan Spiteri23/03/2010 A nervous fever conquered me as soon as I got home after the 3-3 draw against Tarxien. Just the thought of having to endure two matches against Valletta in a matter of one week makes me almost feel sick. I am considering this as something positive though, as at the beginning of the season I would have never forecasted this sort of stuff. The fact that we are heading towards a direct clash for the title race with our fierce rivals says a lot. It means that our team has performed well above expectations, and that we are giving the title favourites a really hard time to shrug us off, and who says they will succeed? The draw for the F.A. Trophy quarter finals seems to be part of a thriller’s script. A whole season seems to be at stake in these two big matches, and their results will probably tell us the truth about the two teams. Is the possibility of beating Valletta in the title race just a dream? Are Valletta over estimated? All kinds of questions arise before these ‘exams’ and only time will give us the answers. Something we already have the answer for is the excellent results our coach and players have obtained through hard work, commitment, determination and quality. All of us are proud with what this team has achieved so far, and we all hope this trend will carry on even in the coming years. I think our team is the most exiting one to watch, no matter what the final outcome is. Wins are rarely straight forward, losses are usually heartbreaking and draws are breathtaking! We Birkirkara supporters seem to love living on the edge, and maybe that is why we love this team so much. It can give us an array of emotions in just 1 single match, and the one against Tarxien Rainbows is just what I am talking about. Going down against the run of play, our team manage to equalise immediately, only to fall behind again and ending the first half 2-1 down. The afternoon seemed to be one to forget when the lively Rainbows made it 3-1, but a bold effort by our lads, constantly supported by the Ultras and, this I am glad to say, by all the rest of the supporters, made the comeback possible. Only the bar denied us what would have been an epic victory. 
This time round, we had the luxury to have both our President Mr Karm Galea’s and our Coach Mr Paul Zammit’s views. “A rather difficult question,” said Mr Galea when asked whether he considered the draw versus Tarxien as one point gained or two lost. “Being the team at the top of the table, we expected a win against Tarxien and, therefore, from that point of view, I would say 2 points dropped. On the other hand, being 3 -1 down with less than 45 minutes play left, I would say a point gained. Having said that, our performance in the second half was one of the best this season and, had luck smiled a bit to us, we could have scored enough goals to win the game in the second half. And, therefore, in that respect, 2 points lost. For most of the game we were the better team with a very good performance in the first 15 minutes and almost the entire second half. Unfortunately, Tarxien’s goals were soft goals because in each of them our defence was not at its best.” Three goals conceded was something we had not seen since the very first match of the campaign against Valletta. Does Mr Galea see a hint of pressure creeping in? “As I said before, our defence was not at its best and whenever Tarxien were on the attack our defence didn’t cope extremely well as it normally does. It’s difficult to say whether it was pressure or complacency. Tarxien played as if it was the last game in their life and, maybe, took our defence by surprise.” 
Mr Galea acknowledged the great comeback by our lads: “Surely, as I said before, the comeback in the second half produced some of our best football. Our lads played their hearts out and with some luck we could have won the game. I don’t think there was any considerable lack of fair play from any side, or maybe I didn’t notice it!” He also attributed the players’ performance to our great support: “I’m sure the backing given by our supporters, even though we were behind for most of the game, was an important factor from a psychological point of view. When you are a player on the pitch with your team losing 3-1 and you see that your supporters still have faith, you become full of courage, you start believing in yourself and you won’t become complacent but will make that extra effort to win the game for yourself and your supporters. The Birkirkara Ultras group are keeping our support alive and I commend them for that.” It was now time to shift our attention to the big clash ahead of us: “I am sure our coach has been studying the way Valletta play and is devising tactics to overcome their challenge. We believe in our team, the team which is playing the best consistent football on the Island and, if we play our fast attacking game, then I’m confident of a positive result.” Mr Galea also urged us for continuous support: “Our supporters should take the Tarxien game as an eye opener in the sense that their continued support, even when we were trailing 3 – 1, played an important part in the psychological aspect of the game. Let us all give that kind of support from start to finish and let us convince as many Karkarizi as possible to come and watch our team win!” Given the importance of this crucial part of the season, we felt an interview with our coach was a must! We first asked Mr Zammit about the Tarxien game: “All the games in the Championship Pool are cup ties. We played against a highly motivated team in Tarxien Rainbows, and we have to expect this in every game we play. The game was characterised by many episodes that could have changed the outcome of the final result, but looking back, I think we gained a point, keeping in mind that we were 3-1 down, with 39 minutes to go. Every game has its ups and downs, and I do evaluate the positives and negatives of every game we play. I cannot be satisfied with the result although it was a great comeback, and I can't be satisfied with the way we conceded the goals and the way we were being caught on the counter attack. But I am very satisfied with the fighting spirit and the never-say-die attitude of our players. We were dominant throughout the whole game, we created lots of goal scoring opportunities, the goalpost denied us as well, and we became stronger and stronger as time passed by. There were many positive aspects in this game.” 
Having our coach at our disposal, we couldn’t help asking a tactical question with regards the way we conceded the first two goals: “There were technical and tactical mistakes from individuals, not only from defenders, that contributed for being fragile through counter-attacks. Mistakes happen in every game, although in this game we were erratic in certain circumstances that cost us a lot. We paid dearly for our mistakes, but the players were brave enough to fight their way back.” Mr Zammit was still in the mood to underline his players’ efforts though: “Words of praise to our boys. The game reflected the attitude I want from this team. We're a hard nut to crack, and all the players that want to play for Birkirkara FC, must have this positive mentality. Great people will show up in difficult times. And this is what the players did. We were unlucky not to win this game at the end. There wasn’t lack of fair play from our part prior our equaliser. Tarxien were really struggling at the end, and they were just hitting forward and hoping for the best. They were doing everything possible to waste time, and putting the ball out of play was done for this. I can understand them, because it's part of the game. But they have to understand us as well, as our objective was different.” Mr Zammit has always asked for greater support, and was ready to give credit for Saturday’s input: “I really believe that the supporters can give you that extra push. You can be our extra weapon on the pitch, and it did really work last Saturday. Every supporter can be a supporter when things are going well. But, in my opinion, real supporters are those who will keep backing the team when things are going wrong. If we want our players to keep fighting till they drop, we have to be the same. I must thank all Birkirkara FC supporters that gave me and the team all the necessary backing throughout the season. They made me feel at home as from day one in this Club. I am very impressed with the Birkirkara Ultras, because even if not big in numbers, they are the voice whenever we play. I hope more supporters will join our fight for this grand finale of the season. We still have a long way to go and we still have battles to fight. War is not over.” 
Paul Zammit knows exactly of what Valletta are made of: “We all know that Valletta are very strong on paper, because they invested a lot these past seasons. They have some of the best individuals on the island, but we do believe in our potential. We do believe on what we have built these past few months. We expect a very difficult match, and we have to be tactically disciplined and psychologically strong. I look forward for games like these, because they get the best out of you.” He went on to make a final appeal to our supporters: “I am sure that with your support, we will be stronger than ever. Birkirkara FC deserves to be among the challengers, and we have to show how strong we are, on the pitch. Keep supporting this team. Together we can reach our objectives. Together we can be stronger.” All we have to do now is waiting for Sunday to come, and then do our best to give our players the support they need in order to overcome this big hurdle. I would like to personally thank Mr Karm Galea and Mr Paul Zammit for being so courteous in replying to our questions. This shows that both of them have this club and its supporters at heart! And so do all the players. Let us show we all have faith in them! COME ON YELLOWS!! |