Balzan and Birkirkara cancel each other out
For all the sides’ willingness and effort to win this game, leaders Balzan had to settle for a draw against fifth place Birkirkara in an exciting match of several chances and eqaully missed opportunities.
Birkirkara had slightly the better of the first half and could have taken a lead by halftime.
Matthew Guillaumier was in the thick of everything, heading and shooting on sight. The supporting cast more than played their part too, with the enterprise of Mislav Andelkovic, the dash of Gonzalo Malan and the astute passing of Srnar Dimitrov all making a difference. Credit to the Stripes for their persistence in continuing to claw at the door until they equalised after conceding a penalty and a lot of Balzan pressure.
Balzan improved in the second half with the exceptional delivery of Bojan Kaljevic and the enterprise of Nafti in attack. After taking the lead early in the second half, Balzan created enough chances to have won the game by a canter. They fluffed some and were also denied by a superlative Henry Bonello in the Birkirkara goal. Yet, they looked vulnerable at the back and were caught out by Birkirkara’s equaliser 15 minutes from time.
But before the match was 20 minutes old, Birkirkara gradually crawled their way into the game, with Guillaumier and Andelkovic much involved in their build-ups. Malan reached for a Plut cross but his header was blocked into a corner.
Guillaumier found the ball at his feet on yet another Dimitrov inviting cross but keeper Janjusevic saved well.
On 36 minutes a Guillaumier shot was parried by the Balzan keeper but when Malan shot in the rebound, the goal was disallowed for the Birkirkara player’s offside position.
Balzan roused themselves in the second half and before the hour they had already gone close on two occasions, only to be denied by keeper Bonello. On 53 minutes Nafti played a low free kick from the left towards the middle for Oliveira to unleash a powerful drive that was repelled by the Birkirkara shot stopper.
There was some relief for Balzan when they finally broke the deadlock on 65 minutes. They were awarded a penalty when Piciollo fell under Zerafa’s late tackle inside the area and Bojan Kaljevic scored with his unerring execution.
The goal had been coming in a spell of sustained pressure and Balzan should have sent the match to bed after that lead. Within minutes they twice failed to take advantage as Birkirkara’s backline looked completely in disarray.
On 68 minutes Nafti was through and with Bonello out of his line, he lobbed the ball against the bar. Nafti failed to connect to Kaljevic’s teasing low cross, with the grounded Bonello down at his feet.
Having missed those chances, Balzan also failed to win the game as Birkirkara drew level on 75 minutes. Dimitrov advanced down the left, sent a low cross for Malan to steer the ball in the path of Mislav Andelkovic who hit low beyond the reach of keeper Janjusevic.