Mosta and Sliema Wanderers took a point each in an entertaining 1-1 draw at the Hibs Stadium.

The match had an explosive start with referee Marco Borg sending off two players, one from each side, in the opening 18 minutes.

On 11 minutes Mosta suffered a damaging blow when Stanley Ohawuchi ran past Tyrone Farrugia to try and control John Mintoff’s throughball but the Nigerian lost his balance when challenged by the Mosta defender and referee Marco Borg stopped play to award Sliema a free-kick and he dismissed Farrugia as had stopped a clear scoring opportunity .

Numerical parity was restored seven minutes later when Sliema midfielder Admar Vladavic, who had been booked earlier, was shown a second yellow card after committing a handball infringement and was subsequently dismissed.

It was Sliema who broke the stalemate on 31 minutes when from a Trevor Cilia free-kick, Stanley Ohawuchi anticipated his marker and direct a firm header past Mosta goalkeeper Omar Borg.

Mosta were not ready to go down without a fight and they managed to restore equilibrium on 53 minutes.

The goal came from another setpiece situation when Antonio Carrozza’s cross from a free-kick was met by Manolito Micallef who beat Sliema goalkeeper Henry Bonello with a dipping header.

Sliema striker Stanley Ohawuchi was voted as the BOV Player of the match.