BOV Premier League

Valletta reclaimed pole position in the title race last weekend as they cashed in on Hibs’ 1-0 defeat to Birkirkara by beating Sliema Wanderers 2-0 to open a three-point gap at the top.

The two title challengers went into the third day of the Championship Pool level on 32 points.

The Paolites missed the chance to retain joint ownership of top spot after Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza rose from the bench to put away a late penalty after Hibs goalkeeper Mario Muscat threw his body in the way of the advancing Ryan Scicluna.

Earlier, Hibs had a Jackson Lima goal ruled out for a foul inside the Birkirkara during a corner action. Birkirkara’s win lifted them to third place, one point ahead of Floriana.

Hibs’ slip-up raised Valletta’s spirits ahead of their clash with the Wanderers in the second game.

Sliema managed to hold off Valletta’s pressure in the first half, mainly thanks to the inter-ventions of goalkeeper Henry Bonello who also saved a William Barbosa penalty on the stroke of half-time.

Valletta had to wait until 20 minutes into the second half to nose ahead, Aleksandrs Cekulajevs, who had replaced Ousseni Zongo, tapping home after Bonello had parried away Denni’s effort from close in.

In stoppage time, the Citizens doubled their lead, Barbosa rifling home after a neat interchange with Gilbert Agius.

On Friday, Joe Brincat enjoyed a winning debut as Floriana coach as his team came back from 1-0 down to beat Balzan Youths 3-1 at the Tedesco Stadium.

Jamie Pace put Balzan ahead five minutes into the second half but Ryan Darmanin equalised for Floriana after a goalmouth melee.

Onome Sodje marked his return for Floriana with a headed goal 11 minutes from time before man-of-the-match Pablo Doffo wrapped up the scoring in stoppage time.

This game produced three red cards as Balzan had Jonathan Francica and Nikola Tasic sent off while Floriana’s Christian Caruana was dismissed in stoppage time.

Meanwhile, the relegation battle intensified as results last week left five teams separated by just five points.

Ħamrun Spartans gained their first win over rivals Qormi after two defeats thanks to Dene Shields’s goal 20 minutes from time.

Qormi missed a first-half penalty as captain Joseph Farrugia’s shot was blocked by Ħamrun goalkeeper Omar Borg after 17 minutes.

With this win, Ħamrun moved four points clear of the drop zone.

Mqabba made it two wins on the trot with a straightforward 3-0 win over Marsaxlokk.

Claudio Calleja and John Paul Muscat gave Mqabba a 2-0 lead inside the opening 22 minutes before Bojan Mamic converted a late penalty.

Tarxien Rainbows also boosted their survival bid with a deserved 2-0 win over the stuttering Mosta who have now slipped to second from bottom.

Ricardo Costa put Tarxien in front on 16 minutes and Daniel Mariano Bueno increased their advantage just past the hour mark.

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, Pace.
Own goal: Camilleri (vs Ħamrun).
Red cards: Pedrinho (vs Qormi, vs Mqabba), Francica (vs Hibs; vs Sliema; vs Floriana), Forace (vs Tarxien), C. Ciantar (vs Valletta, vs Floriana), Guga (vs Valletta), Tasic (vs Floriana).

Birkirkara: Avila Perez 12 (1 pen); Cilia 4 (3 pens), Jorge 4; Haruna 3; Grech 2, Pereira 2, Vella 2 (1 pen), Bajada 2, Mifsud Triganza 2 (1 pen); Buhagiar, Zerafa, Muscat, Fenech, 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, Darmanin 2, Sodje 2; Odwong, Farrugia, C. Borg, Alandson, Licari, Doffo.
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 Hibs); Caruana (vs Balzan).

Ħamrun Spartans: Ribeiro 11; Grima 8; Shields 7 (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 Bir-kirkara), Sammut (vs Balzan), Borg (vs Qormi).

Hibernians: 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; Farrugia 3; Templeman 2 (1 pen), 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 10 (2 pens); Mazzitelli 7 (1 pen); Nwoba 3; Muscat 2; Azzopardi, Briffa, Potezica, Bonnici, Timotic, Sammut, Calleja.
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 Wanderers: 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 8 (1 pen); Ricardo 7 (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; Mosta), Caio (vs Valletta), Everton (vs Balzan)

Valletta: Denni 10; Effiong 9, Barbosa 9 (1 pen), Zongo 8; Mifsud 7 (1 pen); Borg 4 (1 pen); Cekulajevs 4; 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
Saturday: National Stadium – 15.00 Valletta vs Floriana; 17.00 Birkirkara vs Sliema Wanderers.
Sunday: Hibs Stadium – 15.00 Marsaxlokk vs Mosta; 17.00 Balzan Youths vs Hibs.
Monday: Tedesco Stadium – 18.00 Tarxien vs Ħamrun; 20.15 Qormi vs Mqabba.

Standings