Birkirkara 2 Balzan 1

Birkirkara managed to turn defeat into a victory yesterday as they beat neighbours Balzan narrowly 2-1 in a hard- fought match.

Birkirkara had much more possession than their rivals, but were shocked when they went down 1-0 after just three minutes. It was Rodrigo Pereira, a former Birkirkara player who helped the Stripes to the title last season, who scored.

Although they attacked a lot in search of the equaliser till the end of the first half, they never found their way to goal. Even at the start of the second half, it seemed to be a repetition of the first half before Shola Shodiya finally scored the equaliser for the Stripes on the 72nd minute.

The Balzan side put up a gallant fight, but could do nothing to stop newcomer Matheus Bissi from scoring what proved to the winner for the champions with just four minutes remaining on the clock.