Birkirkara keeper Henry Bonello closing the way for Jorginho, of Hibs. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

The Premier League provided a rollercoaster of emotions last weekend as the most eye-catching results were those attained by the three teams battling against relegation.

Pembroke Athleta, rocked by a 7-1 hammering to Tarxien Rainbows the previous week, chalked up their first win since November 5 when they beat Ħamrun Spartans 1-0 as fellows-in-distress Mosta showed great character to end a depressing run of 13 matches without a win when they shocked Sliema Wanderers 2-1.

On Sunday, third-bottom Gżira United produced a stunning second-half performance to hand Floriana a second successive defeat following a 4-3 win.

At the top half of the table, leaders Balzan and champions Valletta looked less motivated though and both failed to go beyond stalemates against Tarxien and St Andrew’s, respectively.

Hibernians looked set to be the main bene-ficiaries after their rivals’ slip-ups. Indeed, victory over misfiring Birkirkara would have shot them to the top of the table.

However, the Paolites also went off the boil as the Stripes hit back from a goal down for a 2-1 win that puts them back in the reckoning even though they have an eight-point gap to close on Balzan.

In his pre-match comments on Friday, Hibs coach Mark Miller told Times of Malta that there were no easy matches these days as all 12 teams in the championship had something to fight for.

And the Englishman’s words were prophetic as shock results characterised match-day 20.

“If you look at the results it has been really crazy,” Miller reckoned.

“Every weekend is difficult as you are facing a completely different team to the week before. It’s also about desire and determination. You have teams like Mosta, Gżira and Pembroke who were desperate for points and managed to beat teams who on paper are superior to them.

“The same goes for our match against Birkirkara. They couldn’t afford to lose another time and it showed the way they played. Personally, it was very disappointing to lose on Sunday after we had scored first but at the end of the day you have to come out stronger from this.”

Miller said that the most disappointing aspect was failure to take advantage from Balzan’s slip-up 24 hours earlier.

“This is the second time this year that we had the chance to go top and we missed out completely,” Miller said.

“It was a strange match. We took the lead and I thought of making some changes to steady the team. But then we conceded two poor goals and the game was gone.

“The first goal we lost possession cheaply and the second we allowed them a free header at the near post which we normally always take care of. Then it was difficult for us to chase as we had several players who were struggling physically while Birkirkara got stronger and stronger.

“Little changed in the title race though apart from having Birkirkara who are back in the hunt.”

Miller said at this stage it was difficult to say how the championship will develop and highlighted the increase in foreign players as one of the main reasons for the spate of unexpected results.

“The decision to increase the number of foreign players to seven at one time has evened out the playing field,” Miller added.

“You get four or five foreigners of good quality and a solid group of local players and your team will be as competitive as the rest.

“More than that if there’s no limit on the number of foreign players, which is currently being discussed, we could have teams, not necessarily the traditional ones, who could easily become champions.

“So, in a way this could make things more interesting for the neutral fans.”

Mbong transfer

Hibernians have lost one of their most promising players in this transfer window following Joseph Mbong’s loan move to Croatian side NK Inter Zapresic.

Miller said it was difficult for the young wingback to turn down the opportunity and hopes he will make the most of it.

Miller said: “When the chance came we urged him to go. This is a great opportunity for Mbong to develop his game and reach the next level.”