Sliema coach Edward Aquilina and his assistant Hugh Caruana said after Saturday’s match that the league is far from over, after their team’s impressive 2-0 win over Birkirkara.

“It is an important win, but it is still very early and we must remember that both Valletta and Hibernians are close to us. I am happy with the performance of the players. Brincat at the back made the team look more compact while Giglio was the great motivator in midfield. I feel that we deserved the victory. We did not rob anything,” said Aquilina.

The Blues mentor also replied to those critics who say that Sliema are not well prepared physically. “Everyone must have been aware of the condition of my players in this match. It is enough to see how two 35-year-olds, Doncic and Brincat, played throughout the 90 minutes. That showed the level of fitness of my players,” said Aquilina.

On the other hand, Birkirkara coach Stephen Azzopardi was full of praise for Sliema. “They won on merit. Their defence was exceptional. Our strength is the attack and we could not penetrate. We only had two chances for all the work we did on the field. We also suffered two soft goals and the first, especially, made it an uphill battle right from the start,” he said.

Azzopardi made it clear that the arrival of Serbian goalie Ninos Grlic will not, in any way, jeopardise Justin Haber’s No. 1 tag in the goalkeeping position. “I told Justin before the match that he alone would have to lose his place. And for Grlic to take his place, he has to show that he is a better goalie than Haber,” said the disappointed Azzopardi.

The Stripes mentor also believes that the title battle is not yet over, not even for his side. “We can still get back into the race given the format of the Maltese Premier League. There are still many direct clashes to be played and points can be lost by all the teams in the hunt,” he said.