Sliema registered their first win of the campaign after defeating Valletta by a solitary goal scored by Vito Plut just past the hour.
The Blues made two changes from their first outing against Birkirkara, Awad and Frendo given a starting berth instead of Scerri and Henrique Freire. On the other hand Thane Micallef opted to keep his faith in the same eleven players who registered a 2-0 win against Sirens in their first showing.
As early as the first minute and Al Tumi was called into action turning onto a corner a Shaun Dimech shot. The Wanderers responded on 10 minutes through a Acheampong shot which ended well over the bar.
Three minutes later and Sliema once again on the offensive but a Gomes shot was easy for Galea to pick up.
After a lengthy spell with play restricted to the midfield sector, five minutes from the break Galea saved a Frendo free-kick. And on the stroke of half time, a Paiber shot looked heading to the corner of the net but just missed out.
On resumption Plut tried his luck after being well served by Awad but his acute shot failed to find the desired target. Sliema kept piling on the pressure and on 56 minutes a Gomes shot from the distance was turned into a corner.
Sliema opened the score in the 62nd minute for what proved to be the winning goal. Vito Plut anticipated goalkeeper Galea heading into an empty net.
Valletta failed to react and five minutes later an Awad shot was turned over by Galea. And in the 76th minute Abubakar tried his luck from the left flank but his shot missed out.
Fifteen minutes from the end the Lillywhites were dealt a further blow when Alfred Silas received a second yellow card and thus had to leave the field.
Till the end the Wanderers controlled well and thus cruised to their first Premier League win on their return amongst the elite.
Photo Domenic Aquilina
