Sliema Wanderers bagged their first win of the season when they beat Birkirkara 2-1 at the National Stadium.

The match was bereft of scoring opportunities in the first half.

On 21 minutes, Sliema goalkeeper Giuseppe Sarao did well to neutralise a long-range shot by Ryan Scicluna.

At the other end, Salomon Wisdom created space for himself on the left and picked Milos Galin at the far post. The Serbian striker tried to set up Aidan Friggieri but Predrag Jovic was alert to clear the danger.

Sliema were forced to make their first change two minutes later when Sarao suffered a shoulder injury and was replaced by Glenn Zammit.   

The Blues took the lead in time added on when John Mintoff was upended in the area by Joseph Zerafa and Alex Muscat made no mistake from the resultant penalty.

Birkirkara tried to fight back in the second half but Sliema remained dangerous and on 59 minutes Kopric did well to keep out Wisdom’s shot.

Sliema doubled their lead on 75 minutes.

Muchardi picked up possession on the edge of the area and hit a low shot that forced Kopric to push the ball towards Wisdom who had the simple task of tapping the ball into an empty net.

Birkirkara managed to pull a goal back on 79 minutes when Temile forced his way into the area and beat Zammit with a low shot.

Sliema midfielder Mathias Muchardi was voted as the BOV Player of the Match.