Senglea rejoice after stunning more-quoted Birkirkara

SENGLEA ATHLETIC 1BIRKIRKARA              0 Senglea Athletic pulled off the first big upset of the 2017/18 BOV Premier League season after beating the more-quoted Birkirkara 1-0 at the Victor Tedesco Stadium.  Birkirkara enjoyed more possession but Senglea stayed compact throughout before landing the decisive blow five minutes from the end to make it back-to-back wins after their victory over Lija Athletic. After a rather uneventful first half, Matthew Guillaumier had a great chance to open the scoring for Birkirkara on 63 minutes but his close-range effort drew a fine save from Senglea goalkeeper Timothy Aquilina. Against the run of play, it was Senglea who struck five minutes from time when BOV player of the match Ivan Paz released Nicolas Virano whose low strike had the better of Philip Schranz. ĦAMRUN SPARTANS 0BALZAN                       0 In Saturday’s second match at the Victor Tedesco Stadium, Balzan and Ħamrun Spartans figured in a goalless stalemate. The game was a low-key affair but on the stroke of half-time, Balzan, who also drew 0-0 with Sliema Wanderers in their previous outing, had a great chance to go ahead. They were awarded a penalty after Bojan Kaljevic was brought down in the box but from the spot, De Fiori Mendes fired over the bar. To make matters worse for Balzan, they finished the game with nine men after Paul Fenech was sent off for two cautions and Kaljevic receiving his marching orders for comments he passed towards referee Matthew Degabriele.