Birkirkara crowned youth champions after winning decider

Birkirkara were crowned Youth League champions on Monday night after beating Pietà Hotspurs 2-1, following extra-time, in the Section A championship decider, played at the Victor Tedesco Stadium.  The decider was needed after Pietà Hotspurs and Birkirkara finished level on 34 points at the top of the standings. Captain Jan Busuttil, who has already made 75 senior appearances for Pietà Hotspurs, opened the scoring on 27 minutes. Nine minutes later, Alessio Azzopardi equalised for Birkirkara with the score remaining 1-1 until the end of regular time. The match thus went into extra-time with Birkirkara hitting the winner thanks to substitute Nevin Portelli who curled a brilliant free-kick past Pietà goalkeeper Miguel Abela four minutes from the end. At the end of the match, Malta FA Senior Vice-President Ludovico Micallef presented the winners’ trophy to the jubilant Birkirkara players. Victory in the decider completed an amazing turnaround for Birkirkara, led by coach Herman Bugeja. The Stripes had a bad start to the season, losing their opening three matches of their league campaign but recovered well to put together a strong run in the second round. Players Jordan Sciberras, Paul Mbong, Gianluca Bugeja, Carlo Zammit Lonardelli, Ayrton Attard and Bahraini forward Abdulrahman Asherooqi have been included in Birkirkara’s senior squad a few times this season.  Despite missing a few matches because of injury, Birkirkara captain Ayrton Attard topped the Section A scorers’ list for the second year running with 12 goals. Omar Elouni, of Sliema Wanderers, and Balzan striker Darko Todorovski were second on 11 goals.   Hibernians made a quick return to Section B as they could not avoid relegation after a hard-fought battle with St Andrews and Valletta. They were joined by Lija Athletic who only collected four points. This season’s Section A championship was an exciting affair as five teams were still in the hunt for the title in the closing weeks of the league campaign.2018/19 YOUTH LEAGUE SECTION A – CHAMPIONSHIP DECIDER06/05/2019PIETÀ HOTSPURS 1BIRKIRKARA          2(AET; 90 minutes – 1-1)1-0 J. Busuttil 27; 1-1 A. Azzopardi 36; 1-2 N. Portelli 116. PIETÀ HOTSPURSMiguel Abela, Sheldon Mizzi, Kurt Darmanin (Emerson Camilleri 112), Kyle Mercieca, Kurt Mifsud (Kurt Briffa 104), Samuel Okoh, Liam MacKay, Jake Ghio, Jeremy Delmar, Jake Bone (Clyde Bouvet 85), Jan Busuttil.Coach: Brian Chetcuti BIRKIRKARAAmara Sylla, Glenn Attard, Alessio Azzopardi, Lian Formosa (Neil Friggieri 91), Gianluca Bugeja, Michele Vella (Nevin Portelli 80), Carlo Zammit Lonardelli, Jordan Sciberras, Sebastian Grech (Jacques Vella Critien 120), Paul Mbong, Ayrton Attard.Coach: Herman Bugeja Referee: Ezekiel Barbara LAST 10 YOUTH SECTION A WINNERS 2009/10 Valletta FC2010/11 Hibernians FC2011/12 Pietà Hotspurs FC2012/13 Valletta FC2013/14 Birkirkara FC2014/15 Hibernians FC2015/16 Hibernians FC2016/17 St Andrews FC2017/18 Mosta FC2018/19 Birkirkara FC