The first weekend of the second phase started in a rather controversial mood. The incident early in the Birkirkara-Hibernians clash when goalkeeper Saviour Darmanin was shown a red card for what appeared to be a normal tackle, was obviously the highlight of the whole weekend.

Earlier, Sliema and Valletta had posted good wins, Sliema overcoming a strong Floriana challenge on Sunday and Valletta easily – and with some luck – disposing of Marsaxlokk.

In the Relegation Pool, Lija Athletic were still hoping of better things to come as they defeated St Patrick.

The Blues and the citizens thus profited from the draw between Birkirkara and Hibernians to distance themselves from these two challengers, whose chances are already remote following this draw.

Yet, this match was the highlight of the weekend programme because of that controversial decision which, in my opinion, goes on to throw a bad image on referees and their assistants.

As everyone must be well aware by now, Saviour Darmanin was shown a red card in the seventh minute when he was involved in a tackle with Terence Scerri outside the area. It was only after referee Adrian Casha consulted his flagging assistant Joe Camilleri that he showed the red card to Darmanin.

In the action as such, Casha, as in all probability everyone else at the stadium, including Scerri himself, did not note anything wrong. In fact, it seemed as if Scerri had hit goalie Darmanin with his left foot after having hit the ball with his right. A picture in yesterday’s The Times as well as the TV footage only confirm what I’m saying.

At the end of the match, I asked the referee what was the reason for Darmanin’s sending off. The answer was that the goalie was involved in “serious dangerous play and he denied his opponent the chance of scoring.”

Whether it was serious dangerous play it is only Terence Scerri, perhaps, who can tell us.

It was harsh on Birkirkara to have been dealt such a controversial decision at the start of the match, just the same as it was harsh on Msida a few weeks ago even if on that occasion, the incident occurred late in the match. Both decisions were taken after the official consulted his flagging assistant!

Such decisions, and others which involved Pieta Hotspurs in the early stages of the competition, go on to throw a bad image on the referees and their assistants, some of whom are showing that they are not up to standard.

It is not fair on any club to invest so much in a team to try to reach their goals, and then they are hampered by such controversial decisions not only on the field of play, but also on the table because it is also known that whether one is right or not, no disciplinary decision can be appealed.

In this respect, I also sympathise with Sliema Wanderers who, as leaders at the end of the first phase, should have been playing all their matches at the National Stadium. This time this was not a referees’ decision. It came from the MFA itself. It seems as if in some cases, the MFA can change its own decisions when and wherever it deems fit.

If I am not mistaken, please someone correct me if I am, a decision had been taken some time ago that all matches in the second phase had to be played at the Ta’ Qali national Stadium. If so, has this decision been shelved?

Having targeted the referees and their assistants – of course, not all of them – in my first part of this round-up, I now turn on the performances of the clubs.

Sliema confirmed their strength yet again as they overcame a very strong challenge from their ‘Old Firm’ rivals Floriana.

Sliema played a good first half, but then had to suffer Floriana’s strong pressure in the second half which brought about a temporary equaliser.

However, the Blues came back and Ivan Woods showed why he was one of their best signings this season when he scored that splendid winning goal, although he contrived to miss a penalty a few minutes later.

The Greens probably played their best match this season and, at the end, must have wondered what they have to do more than they did last Saturday to be able to beat Sliema.

Floriana, however, must admit that they lack real punch up front and, at the end, it was no surprise that they had little or nothing to show for all their efforts.

Valletta maintained the pace with leaders Sliema as they brushed aside Marsaxlokk’s challenge to win easily 4-1.

In this match, Chris Oretan confirmed he will be a great asset to the side in the forthcoming important weeks when the citizens should push their title challenge to the limit.

The Nigerian striker has returned with a bang and his hat-trick is a warning to all other rivals in the championship hunt, especially Sliema.

As to Marsaxlokk, they were a complete disappointment. It is true that the side did well in the first half to get back into contention after going 2-0 in arrears.

But after pressing for an equaliser, it was sad to see a goalkeeper of the calibre of Ivan Casha gifting Oretan a third goal which practically killed all Marsaxlokk’s hopes of saving the match.

The match between Hibernians and Birkirkara was conditioned by the red card to Darmanin, already mentioned above.

In just 10 men from the seventh minute, one could not expect better from a Birkirkara side which was already heavily depleted through the absence of the injured Michael Galea, Etienne Barbara and Justin Haber (not to mention Roderick Briffa and Antoine Zahra), as well as the suspended Mark Anthony Bonnici and Precious Monye.

They defended with all their might – at times all of their nine men in front of debutant goalie Joshua Galea who came out with flying colours.

William Camenzuli and Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza were the top heroes in a bunch of gallant fighters. The former inspired his colleagues to an impeccable defensive display and the latter scored the equaliser in the late stages of the game in a rare Stripes counter-attack.

The Paolites left a lot to be desired on a day which they should have turned in their favour.

Yet, despite the several absences in the Birkirkara side and Darmanin’s controversial red card in the opening stages, they simply failed to get the better of the Birkirkara massed defence.

When Cohen seemed to have finally sounded the death knell for the Stripes, up bobbed Mifsud Triganza to equalise that goal and send both teams home with a point – thus distancing themselves from the top two. Because the draw keeps Hibs five, and Birkirkara seven points, away from the top, and therefore with just a remote chance to challenge till the end.

In the Relegation Pool, Lija Athletic opened up fresh hopes of eventually being able to avoid the Drop by beating St Patrick, but they will have to be the first to admit that they still have a mountain to climb.

On the other hand, one expected much better from St Patrick whose inconsistency let them down in this match. In fact, they were nowhere near the form of recent matches and unless they show commitment in all their matches, they will not be able to offer a real challenge.

Player of the week

William Camenzuli (Birkirkara)

He could be seen everywhere. He was in the heart of the defence, played as a midfielder, and even had some attempts at goal as well.

He was in inspirational form, leading his team-mates to a battle against the numerically superior Hibernians for more than 83 minutes.

He turned out to be a real gladiator who emerged unscathed in the circumstances that prevailed on Monday night at Ta’ Qali.

I might still ask: How many players do we have of Camenzuli’s type and current form and are not in the national team squad?

Coach of the week

Stephen Azzopardi (Birkirkara)

The Stripes mentor is my pick this week after leading his heavily depleted side to a 1-1 draw with Hibernians.

He had to reshuffle most of his departments – and during the course of the match – the goalkeeping position as well.

His encouragement from his post was there for all to see and the players responded in a manner which produced a satisfactory result, even though after all it might mean finis to their championship hopes.