Sliema Wanderers 3
Fenech 45; Woods 51; M. Ciantar 88
Vittoriosa Stars 0
After 33 years in exile, Vittoriosa Stars's return to the top flight ended in a frustrating defeat to Sliema Wanderers.
Ryan Fenech was the architecht behind Sliema's flattering victory as the young midfielder produced an inspired display which saw him score a fine goal before setting up the other two to give his team a good start to their Premier League campaign.
Vittoriosa on their part will feel hard-done by the final scoreline as they put up a strong challenge to their more-quoted opponents but they lacked punch up front and in the end they were left to reflect on a disappointing defeat.
An almost entirely new team took to the field for Vittoriosa Stars as their starting line-up featured only one player - Pierre Aquilina - who won promotion with the team last season. New coach Winston Muscat brought in 14 new players in his bid to avoid instant relegation from the top flight.
The Stars took to the field determined to tease the Sliema's rearguard in the opening exchanges.
Vittoriosa's first attempt on goal came as early as the third minute when Henry Isaac saw his header pushed away by Simon Agius. On 12 minutes, it was the turn of Serbian defender Martin Hrubsa who hit a low drive that was parried away by the Sliema goalkeeper.
From the ensuing corner, taken by Mauro Brincat, Kurt Formosa's header was again blocked by Agius.
In these early exchanges, Vittoriosa were holding their own in midfield with the Wanderers struggling to leave their mark with Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza cutting a lonely figure upfront with little service coming in his direction.
On the half hour mark, Lucian Dronca intervened just in time to prevent Hrubsa from taking another clean shot.
The stalemate was finally broken on the stroke of half-time when Fenech showed his speed and dribbling abilities as he got past three Vittoriosa midfielders before firing a low shot into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.
Vittoriosa tried to hit back but it was Sliema who doubled their lead after 51 minutes. Fenech fed the unmarked Ivan Woods on the right flank and the Malta forward slotted the ball past the onrushing Bonello.
The Cottonera outfit were being made to pay for their earlier profligacy in front of goal and Muscat sought to resolve that deficiency by replacing Formosa and Vella with Justin Camilleri and Jonathan Xerri.
But to no avail as it was Sliema who came closest to grabbing the third goal, Alex Muscat dragging his shot wide from a tight-angle after 64 minutes.
On 67 minutes, Sliema were forced to reshuffle their pack when Ivan Woods suffered an injury and was replaced by Miguel Ciantar.
Eight minutes from time, Isaac was denied a consolation goal when Agius produced his best save of the game, palming away the Nigernian's header after Brincat's cross.
But on 88 minutes, Miguel Ciantar put the game to bed after good build-up play from Fenech and substitute John Mintoff.
Sliema Wanderers
S. Agius-7, A. Muscat-6.5, I. Azzopardi-6, J. Mifsud-5.5, R. Fenech-8.5, J.P. Mifsud Triganza-5.5 ('77 C. Gatt Baldacchino), M. Bartolo-5 ('62 J. Mintoff-5), I. Woods-6.5 ('67 M. Ciantar-6), L. Dronca-6, I. Ciantar-5, C. Failla-6.
Vittoriosa Stars
H. Bonello-6, C. Micallef-5.5 ('79 J. Camilleri), P. Aquilina-5, N. Vucanac-5, M Hrubsa-7, K. Formosa-6 ('59 J. Spiteri), M. Brincat-7, G. Muscat-6, E. Vella-5.5('65 J. Xerri), H. Isaac-6.
Referee: Kevin Azzopardi.
Yellow Cards: Failla, Hrubsa.
BoV Player of the match: Ryan Fenech (Sliema Wanderers).