A pat on the back greeted Miguel Angel Alba at the end of the match and it was no less than the skillful winger deserved as he turned on an exhilarating performance of skill to help his team register back-to-back wins for the first time since September.
Valletta were again down to the bare bones with Ryan Camilleri and Taisei Marukawa being late additions to their growing injury list. Interim coach Gilbert Agius was left with no option but to field a makeshift defence as Eslit Sala partnered Triston Caruana in central defence, Leandro Aguirre filled in at the right flank and Joseph Zerafa as usual, manned the left flank.
But their backline was immediately put to the sword by Lija’s fast forward line when Erjon Beu steered in after some neat work by Nicholas Mclaren to put his side ahead after just six minutes.