Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1066826
30 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 DECEMBER 2018 SPORTS FOOTBALL REVIEW WARREN ZAMMIT BOV Premier League THIS was a year which Vallet- ta's supporters will not forget easily since their team managed to win the domestic double. Valletta made it clear that they were chasing the double. They started the season with Zoran Popovic as manager. However, despite leading his side to just one point below leaders Balzan, he resigned in December and was replaced by Danilo Doncic. Apart from Valletta, Balzan were very much eager to win the league after missing out on the title in the previous season. In fact, following a slow start, Marko Micovic's side managed to put in a strong run of results that kept them ahead Valletta for a number of weeks. But they blew their chances at the end of the campaign, starting with their 3-1 defeat at the hands of Tarxien Rain- bows on 7 April. This paved the way for Valletta as the latter secured a 3-0 win over Hamrun Spartans to move on level points with Balzan. Eventually, matters were set- tled during the last encounter of the season. Valletta needed to beat Gzira, while Balzan needed to win against Hiber- nians. On the day, Valletta registered a 2-1 win over the Maroons, but Balzan were de- feated 1-0 by Hibernians and thus finished the campaign three points below Valletta who won their 24th Premier League title. On the other hand, Balzan lost a golden op- portunity to clinch their first honour. The year was also satisfactory for Gzira United. Strength- ened with the signings of Amadou Samb and Roderick Briffa amongst others, Darren Abdilla's men placed third and secured their participation in the preliminary round of the Europa League. At the other end of the table, the year was a negative one for newly-promoted Lija Athletic and Naxxar Lions as they were both relegated to the First Divi- sion. Even early on, there were no doubts Lija would be rel- egated as they never matched their opponents throughout the whole campaign and strug- gled to win points. Naxxar Li- ons battled hard with Tarxien Rainbows and St Andrews not to go down, but still ended up being relegated, finishing a point below Tarxien who re- gained their Premier League status after beating First Divi- sion side Zejtun Corinthians in the play-off. FA Trophy The FA Trophy is an award which many teams look at it as an alternative route towards a place in the Europa League. This was the case for teams such as Sliema Wanderers who wanted to win this trophy in order to participate in the Europa League. After missing on the Premier League, Balzan also set their sights on this trophy in their attempts to win their first ever honour. The most anticipated match- es with regards to this trophy were the semi-finals. After going through, Sliema had to beat Birkirkara in order to play in the final. However, follow- ing a 1-1 draw, the match went into the drama of penalties and the Stripes emerged vic- torious. Meanwhile, Balzan had to face Valletta who clinched the title from their grasps days before. In a match which was filled with controversies, Balzan had to make way for Valletta again as they suffered a 2-1 defeat. The final match between Valletta and Birkirkara was very much in the hands of the Citizens. Doncic's side man- aged to build a two goal lead, but Ognjen Rolovic scored late in the game to pull one back for Birkirkara. Despite this, Valletta's year will go down in memory as an exceptional one as the Citizens managed to win every honour that domestic football has to offer 2018 was Valletta's year Football in Malta and around the world in 2018 Ray 'Zazu' Farrugia (above) was named Malta coach after Saintfiet was sacked PHOTO BY CHRISTINE BORG PHOTO BY DOMINIC BORG