It was an interesting start to the 2006-2007 Premier League campaign, once again sponsored by the Bank of Valletta.

A still heavily depleted Birkirkara side opened their defence of last year’s title win on a positive note as they beat a strong Marsaxlokk side on Monday evening.

Meanwhile Valletta and Floriana registered the most emphatic wins as the two sides were impressive in their demolition of Pieta and Hibernians respectively.

On the other hand, Sliema had to struggle to overcome newly promoted St George’s while the same may be said of Msida St Joseph, who only managed the three points against the other newly-promoted side Marsa thanks to a late goal.

It is still too early to make judgments but it is evident that there will be precious little to choose between the top teams, apart from Hibernians who disappointed in their outing against Floriana.

Despite the defeats suffered by Hibernians and Marsaxlokk, I still believe that they will be back strongly later on during the season, especially the Paolites, when Andrew Cohen will return among their ranks following his injury.

Birkirkara did well to beat Marsaxlokk in the circumstances surrounding the team at present. It was a big sigh of relief for coach Stephen Azzopardi who had to face such a strong side as Marsaxlokk without injured players of the calibre of Etienne Barbara, Roderick Briffa, Antoine Zahra, Adrian Ciantar, Jonathan Holland, Michael Galea and with second goalie Sean Sullivan and Alan Tabone suspended. What will they look like when all these players return to the fold?

On Monday evening, especially in the first half, they appeared impressive in their build-up and even created an appreciable number of chances before Marsaxlokk came back strongly into the game in the second half.

The Stripes’ three new foreigners left quite a good impression, especially midfielder Angelo Paradiso whose long distance passes and crosses were a delight to watch. He dominated the scene in the first half, though he faded somewhat in the second half, possibly due to the heat.

Marsaxlokk must have considered themselves unlucky to have lost all the points after having hit the post and suffered a fluke goal – a gift presented to the Stripes by goalie Reuben Debono.

But Brian Talbot’s side will certainly prove to be among the protagonists this season, especially when Brazilian midfielder Andre Da Silva returns from suspension.

Valletta showed that they can figure among the protagonists this season even if their opponents, Pieta Hotspurs, proved to be a lot weaker than expected.

For the Hotspurs’ Italian coach Davide Vittorio, it was a nightmare of a debut in the Premier League as his boys failed to control Valletta’s Argentine striker Sebastian Monesterolo who started where he left off last season.

On Sunday he was the great protagonist with four goals, although he could have scored at least three others. His was a great performance which augurs well for Valletta this season although, of course, there will be much more difficult matches ahead of them.

But Paul Zammit’s outfit looks healthier than last season with a hard-working David Camilleri in midfield and with Gilbert Agius again serving the side as a provider as well as a scorer.

Floriana could be considered as the revelation side. Having just avoided relegation last season (remember them coming from 0-3 in arrears at the interval to draw 3-3 with Mosta to condemn the latter to this season’s first division?) they overpowered Hibernians on a day when everything went right for them. What a memorable debut for new coach Joe Grech!

The Greens took full advantage of the Paolites’ absences, among them top striker Andrew Cohen, and scored an impressive win which had already matured by the end of the first half.

New signing Wendell Gomes remained on last season’s form at Marsaxlokk as he opened the scoring and the same could be said of Adrian Mifsud, who scored the second goal.

But most heartening was the performance of the young Christian Caruana who confirmed he is one of the most talented players on the island with a very bright future. He also managed to score one of the four goals.

The Paolites disappointed their followers. The side missed the influence of Essien Mbong in midfield as well as the finishing of Cohen. In a few words, Hibernians had no reply to Floriana’s aggressive style of play in the first half.

Sliema’s only consolation from their 1-0 win against St George’s was that they collected the three points at stake.

It was a sort of match which Sliema complicated for themselves. In fact, the Saints could have snatched an equaliser near the end.

Sliema included newcomers Zdenek Zvoboda and Chucks Nwoko in their starting line-up, but it was Zvoboda who stole the limelight with his intelligent forays and good passes. His team-mates, however, failed to apply the finishing touch on several occasions and, at the end, it was only that Ivan Woods goal that separated the two sides.

The Saints must have been pleased with their performance on their return to the Premier League after 10 years. But definitely, they were not happy with the result, even if they knew they were facing a championship challenging side.

The match between Msida and Marsa was, perhaps, the biggest bore of the opening round with the Saints finally emerging winners with a Daniel Nwoke goal three minutes from the end.

It was a big relief for the Saints who are looking ahead to another positive season after last year’s historic feat, when they finished among the top six in the Premier League for the first time.

For Marsa, it was sheer disappointment to have lost the match when they were so close to winning at least a point. But they showed that they will be no push-overs although it is evident that Michael Molzahn’s side will have to work harder if they are to avoid finishing in the relegation pool.