BOV Premier League

Valletta made sure of their 21st title with victory over Sliema Wanderers late last month and with that verdict already sealed, the low-key performance they produced against derby rivals Floriana was somewhat expected now that they cannot be reached at the top of the BOV Premier League standings.

The Citizens, however, still did enough to beat Floriana 1-0 to remain unbeaten against their neighbourhood rivals for the fourth time this season.

The goal that divided both teams in the end was scored by Edmond Agius, the City hardman who had such an influential role in his team’s bid to retain the title for a second year running this season.

With Hibs, Birkirkara and Floriana already assured of European football in summer, attention shifted to the Rele-gation Pool where the battle is on to finish above the second-bottom position.

As things developed, now it is a case of a two-team tussle to avoid joining Mar-saxlokk in Division One.

Mqabba look the likelier side to lose their status following a damaging 1-0 upset to Qormi who rocked their opponents with a Jorginho goal in the second half.

Mosta are still not safe despite a 5-0 win over the luckless Marsaxlokk who had another point deducted from their tally for failing to honour financial obligations to one of their former players.

Meanwhile, Obinna Obiefule continued to edge closer to the all-time Premier League scoring records on Friday when he hit a poker. He is on the 31-goal mark, just one short of Danilo Doncic’s 32 (achieved twice when at Valletta and Sliema).

In this week’s revised programme of matches, Mosta need only a draw from their last match against Qormi on Friday as they are currently three points ahead of second-bottom Mqabba.

Mqabba could only force a decider if they beat Ħamrun Spartans, also on Friday, and Mosta fail to pick up a point.

Tarxien Rainbows made sure of another one-year stay in the top flight on

Saturday with a thumping 3-0 win over Ħamrun Spartans.

The Reds, who fielded a depleted team, were never in it as Tarxien relied on the goals of Jimmy Mayasi and a late Adrian Carabott double to seal salvation.

Second-placed Hibs bounced back with a 3-0 victory in a one-sided match against Balzan as they start their build-up for the FA Trophy semi-finals which will be played next week.

After a goalless first half, the Paolites struck three times through Jason Vandelannoite, Rodolfo Suares and man-of-the-match Andrew Cohen.

Birkirkara laid a claim on a platonic third placing in the standings following a com-fortable 4-1 win over Sliema Wanderers who barely showed their true potential in the Championship Pool.

Moises Avila Peres opened the score and Tabone was on the mark twice to put the Stripes 3-1 up after Trevor Cilia had halved Sliema’s deficit midway through the first half.

Jean-Pierre Mifsud Triganza rounded up a fine outing for his team with a fourth goal.

Statistics - The scorers

Balzan Youths: Pedrinho 13 (2 pens); Ciantar 6; Bright 5; Forace 2, Grima 2; Tasic, Camilleri, Farrugia, Bernardes, Pace.
Own goal: Camilleri (vs Ħamrun).

Birkirkara: Avila-Perez 15 (1 pen); Jorge 5, Haruna 5; Cilia 4 (3 pens), Mifsud Triganza 4 (1 pen); Pereira 3 (1 pen); Grech 2, Vella 2 (1 pen), Bajada 2, Tabone 2; Buhagiar, Zerafa, Muscat, Fenech, Camilleri, Vukanac, Scicluna, Camenzuli.

Floriana: Grabowski 7, Caruana 7; Woods 6 (2 pens); Sodje 5; Micallef 3, Darmanin 3; Cassar 2, Mintoff 2, J. Borg 2, Farrugia 2; Odwong, C. Borg, Alandson, Licari, Doffo, Akoto.
Own goal: Everton (vs Tarxien).

Ħamrun: Ribeiro 15 (1 pen); Grima 9; Shields 8 (2 pens); Sammut 5; Calabretta 3; Luis Silva, Toneto Porcari, Agius, Polli, Hartvig.
Own goal: Bugeja (vs Floriana).

Hibernians: Edison 22 (2 pens); Failla 13 (2 pens); Cohen 9; Lima 5; Pisani 4, Dias 4, Herrera 4; Anizoba 3, Soares 3; Caruana 2, Vandelan-noite 2.
Own goal: Grima (vs Mqabba).

Marsaxlokk: Deanov 4, Farrugia 4; Templeman 3 (2 pen); Lattes 2, Caruana 2; Pedrozo, Kokavessis, Campagnoli, Oladotun, Stoskovic.

Mosta: Obiefule 31 (5 pens; 10 goals with Marsaxlokk); Zammit 6 (1 pen); Martin 3, Mvondo 3; Aboulezz 2, Bajada 2; Arilson, Borg, Magro.
Own goal: Buhagiar (vs Birkirkara).

Mqabba: Mamic 13 (2 pens); Mazzitelli 9 (1 pen); Nwoba 5; Muscat 2; Azzopardi, Briffa, Potezica, Bonnici, Timotic, Sam-mut, Calleja.

Qormi: Jorginho 18 (2 pens); Farrugia 11 (5 pens); Bello Osagie 9 (2 pens); Nwoke 4; Bondin 2, Caruana 2 (1 pen), Bartolo 2, Sci-berras 2; Caio, Thackray, Sammut (pen).

Sliema Wanderers: Mitev 8 (4 pens); Lima 4, Bajada 4, Lattes 4 (1 pen); Frendo 3, Jorge 3, Eyenga 3; Bogdanovic 2, Mifsud Triganza 2, Cilia 2, Ani 2; Scerri, Galabov, Fenech, A. Muscat, Mifsud, Bezzina.

Tarxien Rainbows: Bueno 10 (1 pen); Ricardo 9 (2 pens); Carabott 6; Pulo 4; Mayasi 3 (1 pen), Anonam 2, Galvao 2, De Castro 2 (1 pen); Everton, Tanti.
Own goal: Pereira (vs Birkirkara).

Valletta: Barbosa 12 (2 pens), Denni 12; Zongo 10; Effiong 9, Mifsud 9 (1 pen); Borg 4 (1 pen); Cekulajevs 4, G. Agius 4, Briffa 4; Pace 2, E. Agius 2; Caruana, Scerri (pen).

Next Fixtures

Thursday: Centenary Stadium – 19.00 Tarxien vs Marsaxlokk.
Friday: Hibs Stadium – 18.00 Bir-kirkara vs Balzan. 20.00 Mqabba vs Hamrun.
Friday: National Stadium – 18.00 Floriana vs Sliema. 20.00 Qormi vs Mosta.
Saturday: National Stadium – 16.00 Valletta vs Hibernians.