Sliema Wanderers celebrated their 26th title win in style on Sunday as they figured in a 1-1 draw with Hibernians in their final league match.

After they were presented with the Cup and despite an argument involving MFA President Dr Joe Mifsud and Sliema President Robert Arrigo, it was time for celebrations as they first celebrated on the pitch and on the Stadium terraces, before embarking on the carcade to Sliema where thousands joined in to continue celebrating at The Ferries.

It was another memorable season for the Wanderers who have now overtaken their old and eternal rivals Floriana as the most winners of the top league in Malta. Floriana now remain second on 25 and seem to have to wait a little longer before they can get a sniff at success in such a sphere.

In fact, I think Sliema are there to stay. President Robert Arrigo has built a squad which will be difficult to dispose of for quite a number of years as the Wanderers seem set to continue with their domination.

The Blues, coached by the Edward Aquilina and Hugh Caruana tandem, have a squad of players which is the envy of all the other clubs on the island.

They have, perhaps, not been the best as a team. In fact, they were rarely impressive in their play. They did not entertain the crowds at Ta' Qali or wherever they played, on their way to the title.

Yet, they were the most efficient and most consistent side in the competition, and those were two good reasons why they deserved to win their third consecutive championship.

One also has to say that Sliema, although unimpressive, had to face several problems through their 28 matches. It is only fair, in fact, to say that Aquilina could not make use of his best eleven in most of those matches, if ever he made use of his dream side.

For a good number of matches, especially the latter part of the season, the Blues had Joe Brincat, Rupert Mangion and Danilo Doncic missing through injury, while others like Orosco Anonam and Claude Mattocks were also sidelined for several weeks, missing out on a number of matches through injury.

Yet, thanks to their strength in depth, the Wanderers, almost always, came out on top, and their disappointments were just a few. Their major disappointment must have been the humiliation they suffered when they were beaten by relegated Lija Athletic. But then, they recovered quickly from that setback, even if they also had to lower their colours against rivals Valletta and Birkirkara.

The Blues have also had the element of luck in their favour. There were several occasions when they salvaged a few points with goals at the last moments of added time.

But this is only part and parcel of the game of football and everyone must admit that, at the end, the Blues deserved the title, even if they were expected to run away with it in a more convincing manner than they actually did.

What really gave Sliema the edge over their rivals was the fact that while they kept piling up the positive results, Birkirkara, Valletta and Hibernians lost several points in the matches between themselves and even against the others as well.

In fact, had Birkirkara shown more consistency during the whole season, especially in the early stages, then, in all probability, they would have provided Sliema with a much stronger challenge.

The Stripes also had a good squad and coach Stephen Azzopardi, although also facing some injury problems - remaining without Antoine Zahra and Roderick Briffa for most of the season - must have been a disappointed man at the end of the campaign.

Their second place and a UEFA Cup berth next season by no means served as compensation for the loss of the title. It is the championship they were after, but frankly, they could not have dreamt of winning the title, after missing out on numerous points in matches they should have won.

Their comeback in the final matches of the Championship Pool which enabled them to close the gap on Sliema to just two points in the final standings was simply not enough. It was too late as Sliema coasted home after that goalless draw against Valletta.

What I have just written about Birkirkara applies also to Hibernians. Robert Gatt's boys, at times, showed they had all the ingredients to fight for the title, but on other occasions, they left their fans bitterly disappointed with some slipshod performances.

Their inconsistency, especially in the first round, led to the side losing so many points that they were completely cut off from the championship race very early in the competition.

Yet, in the second phase, they showed that they could have also been there at the final reckoning.

And what about Valletta? Before the start of the season, if I am not mistaken, I had written that the citizens, after the disaster of the previous season, would fight back to earn a place in the Championship Pool.

I had never imagined a Valletta side fighting for the title for most of the season, in fact, till last week's goalless draw with Sliema. That is where their challenge came to an end.

It was a very encouraging season for JJ Aquilina and his youthful squad which surprised everyone. The citizens played their hearts out on most occasions and one admired their commitment towards the famous white jersey.

Yet, at the end, there was sheer disappointment for the whole city clan. So far, Valletta are out of European football next season. They now just hope that their big sporting rivals Birkirkara win the Trophy: then they would play in the Intertoto Cup, at least.

Of course, that would be a bonus considering that in the previous season, they had to play in the Relegation Pool. But after this season's great run of positive matches, they were unlucky they just finished out of steam at the very end of the proceedings.

Marsaxlokk and Floriana also went through a disappointing season. Their only consolation was the fact that they managed to squeeze into the Championship Pool.

After that, there were more disappointments with the Greens winning their only match in their final commitment, against Marsaxlokk.

The two teams had several new faces among their ranks, especially Marsaxlokk who keep changing and chopping in an effort to strike a winning combination. So far, they have only had disappointments though they will be doing their utmost to win the FA Trophy to play in Europe for the second time in successive seasons.

Msida St Joseph and Pieta Hotspurs just did not make it to the Championship Pool and the Saints also had two points deducted which certainly did not help their cause.

Yet, in the Relegation Pool, it was evident that these two teams were superior to St Patrick and Lija, who went on to be relegated.

The Saints and the Hotspurs had the advantage of a good lead carried forward from the first round, as the other two teams, had a disastrous first round.

St Patrick gave a better account of themselves than Lija did in the second phase, and they were also closer to saving their bacon, but they missed the bus in the defeat against Pieta.

Yet, the Zabbar side is ought to make a quick return to the Premier, considering that they also played some really good matches against the top teams, especially in the first round of the first phase, during which they were very unlucky.

Lija Athletic had a difficult season and it was evident that they were to be firm candidates for relegation very early in the season. Their resources were very limited and they could only hope to get the positive results against teams of their calibre, of which there were not many, unfortunately.

Player of the Week

Gilbert Agius (Valletta)

The City skipper is my pick - the last one of the season – after yet another prestigious performance in the match against Birkirkara.

Agius was definitely the best player on the field of play, urging his players to keep fighting till the end in the hope of seeing his side playing European football next season.

It was not to be, but despite the disappointing finish, he covered himself with glory when, at the end of the match, he not only congratulated his adversaries on the field of play, but also went right in front of the rival supporters to applaud them – a gesture which was also rightly appreciated by the Birkirkara fans.

That's what I call real sportsmanship despite some bitter rivalry!

Coach of the Week

Stephen Azzopardi (Birkirkara)

The Stripes had been disappointed at having lost the title to Sliema, just the same as Valletta and the match between the two teams on Saturday was a sort of decider for a UEFA Cup place next season.

Birkirkara had started like a house on fire, but failed to keep up the promise due to a poor defence. In the second half, after the citizens fought back again to level on 3-3, Azzopardi made two notable changes, substituting goalie Saviour Darmanin with Justin Haber and William Camenzuli with Kenneth Scicluna.

Those were bold decisions to take in such an important match. But at the end, he was just proved right!