The 2016-17 Premier League title race will be going down to the wire as Hibernians’ 0-2 upset by Birkirkara on Sunday left the Paolites leading the standings just two points clear of second-placed Balzan with only two matches to go.
Prior to last weekend’s matches, the general feeling among the local football enthusiasts was that the BOV league trophy was heading to Paola as Mark Miller’s team was enjoying a comfortable-looking five-point lead over Balzan.
However, any thoughts of early Hibs celebrations were all but dashed on Sunday as Birkirkara scored a goal in each half to secure the win that keeps alive their hopes of a top-three finish.
Valletta are now within striking distance of the Stripes even though the misfiring Citizens are not mathematically ruled out of the championship honours as they lag six points behind Hibs.
Hibs’ slip-up revived Balzan’s aspirations. On Saturday, they had piled up the pressure on the league leaders with a clinical 3-0 win over Tarxien Rainbows.
Not the same can be said of champions Valletta. They look set to forfeit the crown they won last year after slumping to a shock 3-1 defeat to St Andrews.
Oliver Spiteri, the Balzan coach, conceded that despite their negative result last weekend, Hibernians remained in the driving seat but his players were not ready yet to throw in the towel. They will keep fighting till the end.
“My players have shown tremendous spirit in recent weeks to keep themselves in the hunt for this year’s league title,” Spiteri said.
“After the defeats to Valletta, Hibernians and Birkirkara, many wrote off our chances of success. But the players kept believing and despite losing a number of key players through injuries and suspensions we still managed to win our last two matches and now we are just two points away from the top.
“Hibernians still have the upperhand and we don’t have any control on that. What we can do is to win our remaining two matches against Ħamrun and Sliema and then see if that is enough to tilt the balance in our favour.”
Right from the start of the season, Balzan had been ranked among the favourites to claim their first ever league crown.
For most of the campaign, the Reds looked to have what it takes to fulfil those expectations as they held top spot.
However, Balzan were found wanting in the most important phase of the competition and conceded damaging defeats to Valletta (1-0), Hibernians (3-1) and Birkirkara (3-1) to lose their top status.
“When you look at our squad, apart from Ryan Fenech, Abdelkarim Nafti, Alan Da Silva Souza and Paul Fenech, we do not have a long list of players with first-hand experience of winning the championship... it’s all new for us,” Spiteri said.
“For most players in my squad this is the first time that they are facing this kind of pressure and that, perhaps, was one of the reasons why we were found wanting in crucial stages of the season.
“But whatever happens over the next two weeks I’m sure that this has been a great learning curve for our club and hopefully we will be better prepared next season.”
Balzan stand just one point away from securing a second successive qualification to European football and Spiteri said that they are keen to finish the job in their next match against Ħamrun.
“Qualification to a UEFA club competition was our priority all season and we should secure this objective in our next league match,” Spiteri reckoned.
“Despite their poor results of late, Ħamrun are no easy side to play against and could make things difficult for us.
“But we are going all out for the three points to keep our challenge alive and apply more pressure on Hibs until the very last match.”
Title run-in
Hibernians (65 points)
St Andrew’s - April 30
Tarxien Rainbows - May 6
Balzan (63 points)
Ħamrun Spartans - April 29
Sliema Wanderers - May 6
Valletta (59 points)
Tarxien Rainbows - April 29
Ħamrun Spartans - May 6