BIRKIRKARA 0
ĦAMRUN SPARTANS 1
Sasere 14
BIRKIRKARA
D. Fernandes-6, E. Ruiz-6.5, E. Pepe-6, L. Montebello-6 (79 O. Carniello), C. Bonanni-6.5, P. Mbong-6 (73 N. Cross), K. Zammit-6, F. Falcone-6 (62 K. Bevis), R. Scicluna-6.5, L. Aguirre-6, J. Macedo-6 (79 B. Ngissah).
ĦAMRUN
H. Bonello-6, D. Gojkovic-6, J. Mbong-6.5, A. Soares-6 (69 I. Ntow), A. Oyama-6, S. Borg-6, F. Sasere-6 (77 L. Gambin), M. Fedele-7, J. Corbalan-6, E. Marcelina-6.5, F. El Bakhtaoui-6.5 (88 P. Djordjevic).
Referee: Matthew De Gabriele.
Yellow cards: El Bakhtaoui, Scicluna, Macedo, Fedele, Corbalan, Gambin, Marcelina, Ntow, Zammit.
BOV Player of the Match: Matteo Fedele (Ħamrun).
An early goal by Franklin Sasere handed Ħamrun Spartans a narrow win over Birkirkara to secure third place in the BOV Premier League and therefore a place in the UEFA Europa Conference League this summer.
The Spartans will be making a return to European football after an absence of 30 years after being denied participation in this season’s UEFA Champions League by the UEFA Appeals Body.
Ħamrun were the better side throughout the 90 minutes and with players like Matteo Fedele, Emerson Marcelina, Joseph Mbong and Faissal El Bakhtaoui in fine form, they deserved to take home the three points to guarantee third place.