BOV Premier League

Hibernians cancelled their deficit with Valletta at the top of the Premier League standings last weekend after beating Floriana 2-0 while the Citizens were held to a 1-1 draw by Birkirkara.

As the Championship Pool is still in its infancy, the title race is expected to develop into a tight affair involving Valletta and Hibs, the two contenders now tied on the same 32-point tally.

Both teams failed to produce their best though but Hibs emerged better as they relied on two thunderous strikes from Jackson Lima to down a depleted Greens side that was also shorn of its coach following the departure of Michael Woods.

Valletta found it hard to settle down in their game as Birkirkara again showed great poise and cohesion to keep their rivals at bay.

It was only after the break that Jesmond Zerafa’s team started to show their true mettle but when Moises Avila-Perez cancelled Denni’s opener for Valletta, with a late penalty signalled by the assistant referee, all neutrals at the stadium were of the opinion that the 1-1 outcome was a just result.

Striker Alfred Effiong got sent off two minutes from time to compound the problems for Valletta who had held sole leadership since early November.

The other match from the Championship Pool produced an exciting fare as nine-man Sliema Wanderers battled bravely to avoid defeat against Balzan Youths in a 3-3 draw.

The Blues had Anicet Eyenga sent off late in the opening half and Mark Scerri followed suit with 33 minutes still on the clock.

However, Danilo Doncic’s team provided more proof that they are among the best-trained sides in the league as they hit back to draw level on each of the three times that Balzan had taken the lead.

Rennie Forace and Pedrinho were on the mark for Balzan and the scorers for Sliema, who are chasing a berth in Europe next season, were Trevor Cilia, Emilio Lattes and Nikola Bogdanovic.

From the look of things the race to avoid the drop this season is also evolving into a close tussle with Qormi looking the most relaxed side at the moment following their 1-0 win over Tarxien thanks to a late Jorginho goal.

Ħamrun Spartans continued to show progress under coach Stefan Sultana and trounced lowly Marsaxlokk 6-1 with Anderson Ribeiro and Kevin Sammut both hitting hat-tricks for the Reds.

But, it seems, that Mosta are finding it hard to cope with the exertions of the Relegation Pool as on Monday they got beaten by Mqabba 1-0.

John Nwoba was the match-winner giving Clive Mizzi’s team three precious points that saw them leapfrogging Tarxien who slipped into the drop zone, one point behind Mqabba and Mosta and two less than the Spartans.

BOV Premier League statistics

Scorers, red cards

Balzan Youths: Pedrinho 11 (1 pen), Ciantar 6; Bright 5; Forace 2, Grima 2; Tasic, Camilleri, Farrugia, Bernardes.
Own goal: Camilleri (vs Ħamrun).
Red cards: Pedrinho (vs Qormi, vs Mqabba), Francica (vs Hibs; vs Sliema), Forace (vs Tarxien), C. Ciantar (vs Valletta, vs Floriana), Guga (vs Valletta).

Birkirkara: Avila Perez 12 (1 pen); Cilia 4 (3 pens), Jorge 4; Haruna 3; Grech 2, Pereira 2, Vella 2 (1 pen), Bajada 2; Buhagiar, Zerafa, Muscat, Fenech, Mifsud Triganza, Camilleri, Vukanac.
Red cards: Decesare (vs Mosta), Grech (vs Qormi), Avila Perez, Bajada (vs Mosta), Decesare, Pereira (vs Hibs).

Floriana: Caruana 6, Grabowski 6, Woods 6 (2 pens); Micallef 3; Cassar 2, Mintoff 2, J. Borg 2; Odwong, Farrugia, Darmanin, Sodje, C. Borg, Alandson, Licari.
Own goal: Everton (vs Tarxien).
Red cards: Amamoo (vs Sliema); Bartolo (vs Birkirkara, vs Balzan), Akoto (vs Qormi, vs Birkirkara); Micallef (vs Birkirkara); Pisani (vs Hibernians).

Ħamrun Spartans: Ribeiro 11; Grima 8, Shields 6 (2 pens); Sammut 5; Calabretta 3; Luis Silva, Toneto Porcari, Agius, Polli, Hartvig.
Own goal: Bugeja (vs Floriana).
Red cards: Agius (vs Balzan), Polli (vs Birkirkara), Sammut (vs Balzan), Borg (vs Qormi).

Hibs: Edison 20 (2 pens); Failla 12 (1 pen); Cohen 6; Lima 4; Pisani 3, Anizoba 3, Dias 3, Herrera 3; Caruana 2, Soares 2.
Own goal: Grima (vs Mqabba).
Red cards: Pulis (vs Valletta), Dias (vs Birkirkara).

Marsaxlokk: Deanov 4; Templeman 2 (1 pen), Farrugia 3; Lattes 2; Pedrozo, Kokavessis, Campagnoli, Oladotun, Caruana, Stoskovic.
Red cards: Templeman (vs Hibernians), Brincat (vs Qormi), Valeriani (vs Valletta), Templeman (vs Qormi).

Mosta: Obiefule 19 (2 pens; 10 goals with Marsaxlokk); Zammit 5 (1 pen); Martin 3, Mvondo 3; Aboulezz 2; Arilson, Borg.
Own goal: Buhagiar (vs Birkirkara).
Red cards: Ossok (vs Hibs); Tisbi (vs Qormi), Martin (vs Tarxien), Raimy (vs Mqabba), Zammit (vs Sliema).

Mqabba: Mamic 9 (1 pen); Mazzitelli 7 (1 pen); Nwoba 3; Azzopardi, Briffa, Potezica, Bonnici, Timotic, Muscat, Sammut.
Red cards: Mazzitelli (vs Marsaxlokk), Mamic (vs Hibs), Timotic (vs Hibs), Psaila (vs Qormi), Fenech (vs Mosta).

Qormi: Jorginho 12 (2 pens); Farrugia 10 (5 pens); Bello Osagie 5; Nwoke 4; Bondin 2; Bartolo, Sciberras, Caio, Caruana.
Red cards: Duff (vs Birkirkara), Jorginho (vs Floriana), Sammut (vs Sliema).

Sliema: Mitev 8 (4 pens); Lima 4; Bajada 4; Lattes 3 (1 pen), Frendo 3, Jorge 3; Bogdanovic 2, Mifsud Triganza 2, Ani 2, Eyenga 2; Scerri, Galabov, Fenech, A. Muscat, Cilia.
Red cards: Scerri (vs Hibs, vs Balzan), Grech (vs Floriana), Mitev (vs Marsaxlokk; vs Balzan), Mifsud (vs Hibs, vs Tarxien), B. Muscat (vs Birkirkara, vs Qormi), Eyenga (vs Balzan).

Tarxien Rainbows: Bueno 7 (1 pen); Ricardo 6 (1 pen); Pulo 2, Mayasi 2 (1 pen), Anonam 2, Galvao 2, Carabott 2; Everton.
Own goal: Pereira (vs Birkirkara).
Red cards: Anonam (vs Mosta), Costa (vs Balzan; vs Mosta), Caio (vs Valletta), Everton (vs Balzan).

Valletta: Denni 10; Effiong 9; Barbosa 8 (1 pen), Zongo 8; Mifsud 7 (1 pen); Borg 4 (1 pen); Cekulajevs 3, G. Agius 3, Briffa 3; Pace 2, Caruana, E. Agius, Scerri (pen).
Red cards: G. Agius, Borg, Fenech (vs Hibs); Effiong (vs Birkirkara).

Next fixtures

Friday: Tedesco Stadium – 18.00 Mqabba vs Marsaxlokk; 20.15 Floriana vs Balzan.
Saturday: National Stadium – 14.00 Hibs vs Birkirkara; 16.00 Sliema vs Valletta.
Sunday: Hibs Stadium – 14.00 Mosta vs Tarxien; 16.00 Ħamrun vs Qormi.

Standings