Emotions ran high among fans at the National Stadium and Corradino as Valletta and Hibernians battled from the distance for the 2019 BOV Premier League title.

It looked as though Valletta were set to retain the championship crown for a second successive year when they headed into stoppage time of their match against Ħamrun Spartans leading courtesy of Mario Fontanella’s first-half goal.

However, a rare lapse of concentration in defence cost the Citizens dearly as Donneil Moukanza fired home the equaliser for Ħamrun Spartans that left Valletta facing a title decider against Hibs, who joined them at the top with a 5-1 win over Balzan, on Saturday at the National Stadium (kick-off: 4pm).

Victor Sciriha, the Valletta president, was left disappointed to see his team throw away what looked a certain win over the Spartans and said that he expected a strong response from his players ahead of Saturday’s showdown.

“You have to be disappointed when you see how the game developed,” Sciriha said.

“We completely dominated the match... Ħamrun didn’t have one shot on target for the whole 90 minutes. But then we suddenly switched off and we got punished.

“The team should only blame themselves as we created enough chances to put the game to bed but we failed to finish them off.

“Added to that Saleh was guilty of poor behaviour and he deserved to be dismissed. His absence left us short of cover in midfield and that gave the Ħamrun players the space to create their equaliser.

“Now we have another massive match coming up against Hibs where we can put things right and hopefully our fans will again turn up in big number to help us bring the trophy back to our club once more.”

The Valletta president said that he was fully behind his players and hoped that they will turn their disappointment into positive energy to ensure there are no surprises on Saturday.

“We are blessed to have a group of players who are used to these kind situations and they know how to react,” Sciriha said.

“I expect the players to use their anger and disappointment that they felt on Saturday to go out even more determined on Saturday and beat Hibernians for the title.

“I’m sure that it’s going to be a great football match between two excellent teams and hopefully we do enough on the day to win the Premier League title.”

Jesmond Abela, the Hibernians Team Manager, said that his club were hopeful that they would be given one final chance of winning the title and he encouraged his players to make sure they take their opportunity with both hands.

“More than we believed of having another chance, we hoped for another opportunity,” Abela said yesterday.

“Before last weekend’s matches it looked as though we lost our chance of winning the title but Valletta gave us another shot and we need to make sure that we are ready.

“Personally, I think that from now on everything that comes is a bonus but we will give it our best shot.”

Coaches' praise

Abela revealed that after Hibernians’ stunning 3-1 defeat to Qormi he never thought that the team could recover and get back in contention and he singled out coach Stefano Sanderra and his assistant Ryan Pulis for their ability to put the team back on track.

“It was not easy for our coaches to lift our players’ morale after our setback against Qormi,” Abela said.

“Stefano and Ryan deserve all the credit for that. I think that given the performance of our team throughout the season we deserved another chance and we have to be sure that we’re up for it.”

“People might suggest that Valletta’s failure to win the title could have a psychological effect on their players and put us at an advantage, but I can’t accept that,” Abela added.

“They have so many players who have years of experience of these kind of matches that I’m sure it won’t have an effect on them.

“We need to be focused on ourselves and ensure that we

head into the match in the best possible shape and as this is a massive opportunity to win the title.”