A solitary second half goal from Matthew Calascione saw Birkirkara topple rivals Marsaxlokk in last Saturday’s big clash which was turned into a big farce in the first half.

Otherwise, it was an interesting weekend with Sliema beating Valletta by a late strike to remain within striking distance of the Stripes – just two points separate the two teams.

The weekend honours, however, went to relegation-haunted Mosta who defeated Hamrun 5-3 for their second consecutive win in the Relegation Pool – a win which enabled them to move away from the bottom spot with high hopes of avoiding the Drop.

My first comments, however, are reserved for the ‘Comedy of Errors’, as I continue to describe this match, reduced to a farce.

It is unbelievable that so many errors were committed in such a short period by the officials and also by Marsaxlokk.

I am referring to the penalty incident when Reuben Debono barged his way into Etienne Barbara of Birkirkara. Goalkeeper Jeurgen Micallef replaced the red-carded Debono in the Marsaxlokk goal. He came on after fourth official Anton Zammit displayed the number 74 (Reuben Debono) as the man to be replaced by Marsaxlokk. This was the first mistake committed. Moments later, the penalty was taken and Marsaxlokk still had 11 players on the field of play. Here it was the club who made the second error. They must have known that Micallef had substituted no one in their team, in the clear knowledge that Debono had been sent off. They knew they had to continue the match in ten men. I heard a Marsaxlokk official say after the match that the fourth official made a mistake as it was No. 14 he should have displayed not the number 74. If that is true, then why did they not insist that there was a mistake. Probably, they did not bother to check themselves.

And what is a fact is that the number 14 (Charlo Magro) stayed on the pitch, and not just for the penalty, but also for about another two minutes.

In the meantime, the penalty kick was taken by Galea and saved by Micallef. Some claimed that Marsaxlokk’s young towering goalie should not have been in goal for the penalty. I do not agree: in my opinion, one of the remaining nine Marsaxlokk players should not have been on the pitch. Normally when a goalie is sent off, the reserve goalie replaces one of the remaining players. Marsaxlokk failed to make such a substitution on this occasion.

When Birkirkara noticed the anomaly, they protested with the official though it might have been Marsaxlokk’s Zazu Farrugia who brought it to the attention of the officials. Referee Lautier went to consult his assistant referee Philip Agius. The coaches, Ray Farrugia and Oliver Spiteri of Marsaxlokk as well as Stephen Azzopardi of Birkirkara were involved in some heated arguments very close to the two match offcials. At one time, Farrugia was seen to be very angry, possibly at Azzopardi’s insistence with the referee.

The match continued regularly when Charlo Magro left the field of play for Marsaxlokk to continue with 10 men.

But that was not all, an MFA official claimed that the match should have re-started with a re-take of the penalty. Again this resulted in another error, as nothing of the sort happened: the match resumed with a simple drop ball.

I can also confirm that Birkirkara played the second half after protesting officially with the official during the interval, though they now seem to have dropped the protest following their win.

But what will Marsaxlokk do? One of their officials told me that it was possible that they might also lodge a protest claiming the referee had made a technical error. I will not be surprised that, despite all the odds being stacked against them, they will also protest to take a second chance as, after all, all other teams do on similar occasions. Even if the technical error happened to be in their favour this time.

I could not believe what was occurring on the Ta’ Qali field of play last Saturday. I have seen nothing like it in a journalistic career spanning almost 40 years.

Now it will be the MFA who will have to sort out any problem which might arise, especially if any of the two clubs, or both, lodge (or have lodged) an official protest.

The controversy will be discussed by a sub-committee of the MFA’s Referees’ Board this week.

In any case, and for the record, Birkirkara were well worth the three points as they seemed to be the best side on the field of play, especially till they scored what proved to be the winner.

And although Marsaxlokk might say they were unlucky to have hit the upright, the Stripes will say that they contrived to miss a penalty and were also denied a blatant second penalty just before the end.

As for the unfortunate incident when Barbara was laid low by Reuben Debono’s hard tackle, I am sure that everyone will join me in wishing Barbara a quick return to the field of play.

The incidents mentioned above overshadowed the previous match which saw Sliema turning defeat into victory in the second half, claiming the three points over a fighting Valletta side which deserved a lot more.

The champions had Murphy Akanji to thank for the three points. It was he who kept the side in the match with some neat handling, including a couple of splendid saves.

Valletta pressed hard after Sliema obtained an equaliser early in the second half but then, near the end, Steve Bezzina’s lapse cost them dearly as former City striker Doncic took full advantage to score the winner.

On Sunday, Hibernians continued with their poor run of results as they were held to a one-all draw by bottom club Msida St Joseph.

The Saints claimed a good point in nine men after having Pullicino and Mifsud sent off. The point will certainly give them encouragement for their forthcoming matches which they are taking as serious preparation for the FA Trophy commitments later on.

On their part, the Paolites must now consider themselves completely out of the title race. An eight-point gap with just seven matches remaining is very difficult to bridge.

Moreover, they are not displaying that form which should lift the team from its current disappointments.

And they will also have to take consideration that Valletta could still offer them a strong challenge for the fourth place – and a possible berth in Europe next season – being just four points away.

As I have already said in my introduction, Mosta take the honours this weekend after registering a splendid 5-3 win over a poor Hamrun side to move away from the bottom position in the Relegation Pool.

They have now handed the wooden spoon to Pieta and Charlie Agius’s Mosta seem well geared to continue their gallant battle to save their status, at least for another season.

Best Player

Murphy Akanji (Sliema W.)

Sliema’s Nigerian goalkeeper was the team’s hero on Satruday as his neat handling and good saves kept Valletta at bay and enabled his side to wait for the chance to nsap up the three points – as they did in the closing stages.

Had it not been for Akanji – he has been the team’s mainstay on many an occasion this season – Sliema would not have been able to grab the three points on Saturday.

Sliema are showing some signs of weaknesses in their rearguard this season, but Akanji still gives it a safe image and remains their main inspiration.

Leading scorers

17 – Michael Galea

11 – Cleaven Frendo, Etienne Barbara, Andrew Cohen, Danilo Doncic, Daniel Nwoke,

10 – Daniel Bogdanovic, Ivan Woods

9 – Gaetan Spiteri, Adrian Mifsud,

8 – Martin Deanov, Andre Schembri

7 – Wendell Gomes, Ikechuckwu Chibueze,

6 – Terence Scerri, Maczerob Okoro, Haruna Doda, S. Giglio, Udo Nwoko,

5 – David Camilleri, Sebastian Monesterolo, J. Brincat, Roderick Bajada, M. Calascione, S. Sultana

4 – A. Zahra, D. Theuma, W. Camenzuli, I. Zammit, M. Licari, E. Mbong, P. Scriha, I. Babatunde, R. Bajada, D. Falzon, A. Ciantar

Next matches

Saturday 25 March

2pm Pieta H.-Floriana

4pm Hibernians-Birkirkara

Sunday 26 March

3pm Marsaxlokk-Valletta

5pm Sliema W.-Msida SJ