Premier League Highlights

Sliema Wanderers uncorked the champagne bottles on Sunday to celebrate their remarkable feat of a third Premier League championship on the trot and a record 26th overall.

The champions wrapped up their positive campaign with a 1-1 draw against Hibernians in a match that followed a predictable pattern after Stefan Giglio cancelled out Terence Scerri's 20th minute opener for the Paolites.

On an afternoon when the spotlight was on Sliema's title celebrations, the 1-1 draw appeased both parties, especially Hibernians who overtook Valletta in third place. Hibernians are now sure of participating in the Intertoto Cup but they are still in with a chance of earning a berth in the UEFA Cup if Birkirkara triumph in the FA Trophy.

The results of the last weekend of the Premier League condemned Valletta to fourth place after they lost to Birkirkara 6-3 in an enthralling encounter. Ironically, Valletta are now praying that their latest conquerors win the KO competition as that is the only remaining route to Europe for the Citizens who were understandably frustrated at slipping from second to fourth in the final week of the league trek.

On Saturday, Valletta needed to beat Birkirkara to qualify as one of Malta's four representatives in UEFA competitions next season but they were forced to play catch-up for the entire game after their opponents moved into a two-goal lead inside the first nine minutes courtesy of George Mallia and Haruna Doda.

A ding-dong battle ensued as goals by Branko Nisevic and Mark Galea brought the Citizens on level terms before Doda struck again to put Birkirkara ahead.

Early in the second half, Nisevic levelled again for the Citizens but the game was lost and won when Lucian Dronca put away a 74th minute penalty to bring an end to a spell of sustained pressure by Valletta. Two late goals by Etienne Barbara guaranteed the Yellow-Reds' place in the UEFA Cup draw.

Apart from the quest for second spot, there was also the pending issue of who between Hibs striker Andrew Cohen and Ivan Woods, of Sliema, would finish top scorer. The two leading strikers came face to face in Sunday's final match but as both failed to find the net, Cohen clung on to top spot in the list with 21 goals, one more than Woods.

In other matches, Floriana waited until their final league match to gain their first victory in the Championship Pool, beating Marsa-xlokk 4-3 in an entertaining match.

St Patrick bid farewell to Premier League football with a 4-2 win over Msida but Lija Athletic, the other relegated team, crashed to a 3-0 loss to Pietà Hotspurs.

Next fixtures

FA Trophy Semi-Finals

Friday
7.30 p.m. Sliema Wanderers vs Birkirkara.

Saturday
5 p.m. Msida St Joseph vs Marsaxlokk.

Both matches at National Stadium

Final Standings

Note: Msida were deducted two points