The weekend saw a major surprise in the sense that Hibernians, quite unexpectedly, suffered a defeat against Birkirkara and allowed Valletta, 2-0 winners over Sliema, to take over the sole leadership of the standings. The citizens were made to fight hard for the three points while Hibernians missed the services of top striker Luis Edison dos Santos. Floriana also did well to beat Balzan and return to victory as Joe Brincat took over as coach. The Relegation Pool has become very interesting following the weekend results which saw Hamrun, Tarxien and Mqabba registering important wins. No team, now not even Qormi, can say that they are out of trouble. It could be even more interesting in the second round of this second phase.

Henry Brincat takes a look at what happened at the weekend in connection with the Premier League.

After 25 rounds, it is Valletta once again who are sole leaders. Hibernians had drawn level with the citizens the previous week after Valletta dropped two points against Birkirkara.

This week, the same Birkirkara went one better as they took all the three points off Hibernians, not only consolidating their third place but also handing the Paolites an unexpected defeat which saw them also losing the joint leadership they enjoyed for a week with Valletta.

Valletta had to fight hard for the three points and though unimpressive once again, one must commend them for their never-say-die spirit, even if they were facing a Henry Bonello who seemed to be unbeatable – he also stopped a first half penalty from Barbosa.

All the City clan must have thought that they were in for another shocking result after that draw against Birkirkara last week.

Sliema were playing to a meticulous defensive plan, Bonello was in top form plus the lack of fluidity in City’s movements, enabled the Blues to keep the score blank at the interval.

On the changeover, Cekulajevs took over when brought in as a substitute and when he found the net, there must have been a big sigh of relief.

From then on, it was evident where the points were going as Sliema were toothless up front.

The Blues resisted till City’s first goal and the second, near the end, did not change anything really.

What has changed is that Valletta are now enjoying a three-point lead at the top over Hibernians while Sliema have dropped six points behind third placed Birkirkara in the battle for the Europa League berths.

Of course, not everything is lost yet, but with injuries and suspensions, the road is getting tougher and tougher.

The Paolites failed to get the better of Birkirkara although they quite rightly lamented over the annulment of what seemed to be a legitimate goal by the referee.

Had that goal been allowed to stand, I might have been writing a different story today. Yet, the Paolites failed miserably as they even allowed Birkirkara to take all the points through another controversial decision.

In fact, that penalty also seemed to be a harsh decision.

But it was converted by Mifsud Triganza and Birkirkara extended their positive run which has seen them moving up to the third place.

The Stripes are now playing with more confidence and it is obvious that coach Paul Zammit has finally found the right formula for his boys.

Floriana returned to winning form as they beat Balzan by three goals to two on Friday evening.

It was the perfect gift for new coach Joe Brincat whose job from now onwards is to try and secure a berth in next season’s Europa League.

Balzan shocked Floriana with a splendid Jamie Pace goal – certainly one of the best, if not the best, goals this season.

But they fought back gamely and won the game comfortably scoring three times in the process.

The road is still difficult with matches against Sliema and Valletta before the end of the first round, but this win should help restore confidence in a side that had gone through six matches without a victory, from which they only collected three points from three draws.

In the Relegation Pool, Tarxien Rainbows, Hamrun Spartans and Mqabba obtained important wins which will obviously help their cause with regards to future matches.

Tarxien made a big step forward towards salvation as they overcame a disappointing Mosta side by two clear goals.

The Rainbows confirmed their recent progress in this match, but Mosta showed that they have lost all that enthusiasm and fervour in the second round of the first phase. Suffice to say that they did not even produce a decent shot at goal.

The Blues need to regain confidence as quickly as possible if they are to retain their place among the elite.

With Mqabba and Tarxien winning their matches, Mosta have been relegated to fifth place in the Pool, two points behind Tarxien and three behind Mqabba.

Hamrun Spartans obtained a second consecutive win as they overcame Pool leaders Qormi 1-0 in a keenly contested match.

The Spartans are now just one point behind the same Qormi and four ahead of Mosta, the second from bottom team.

It was one of the most entertaining Premier League matches this season with both sides creating a lot of scoring chances. In fact, I thought it was an irony that only one goal was scored.

Qormi must only blame themselves for losing this match. They had enough chances to make sure of the three points even by the end of the first half, but they even contrived to miss a penalty.

The Spartans also had their chances, but what was more important for them was that at least they scored one of those that came their way.

Mqabba also confirmed their return to form as they beat Marsaxlokk 3-0 on Friday evening.

It was a comfortable victory for Clive Mizzi’s boys who provided no relief for the beleagured Marsaxlokk side, now clearly destined for the Drop.