Historic victories for Naxxar, Marsaxlokk

2023/24 BOV Premier League Match Day 21 Statistics

1 – We start this week’s overview with a stat of MD20 as Sirens youngster Zack Bartolo made his MPL and senior debut in the match against Floriana last week (0-3). The 19-year-old played for various youth nurseries on the island (Balzan, Lija Athletic, Marsaxlokk, Gharghur and a season-loan with Rabat Ajax) before landing at Sirens last summer. Although coach Steve D’Amato gave quite a few youngsters a chance this season, Bartolo is only the second Maltese to make his full debut for the club in the MPL after Cameron Dalli did the same at the start of the campaign. Lately, two Sirens homegrown foreign players also made their debut in the senior team, which are Serbian born Ognjen Ilic and Cameron Matthews from the United Kingdom.

10 – Santa Lucia’s first half stoppage time opener was scored by Tatsuro Nagamatsu, which was the tenth goal of the Japanese in the Premier League. It was his fourth in this campaign while last season, the striker knocked in six for Gudja United. He became only the second player from Japan to reach the double figures in the Maltese top flight. The first one was Rei Tachikawa, who also played for Santa Lucia and scored eight MPL goals for them, while the other two were scored in the colours of Sirens. Nagamatsu, who will turn 29 years of age next month, will hold the record alone should he score at least one goal in the last five remaining MPL games left this season.

10 – Sirens failed to win for the 10^th consecutive time in the league, recording seven defeats and three draws. Their last and only victory this season was recorded on 16 December 2023, the odd goal in three win over Gudja United. The worst sequence of the St Paul’s Bay based club in the Premier League is a winless streak of 12 consecutive games, which started with the one all draw with Hibernians last season (15.04.2023) and ended with a similar 1-1 draw with Naxxar Lions on 10 December last year (D5, L7). Up next for the Blues are Balzan, Naxxar and Gudja, while Sirens end the season with encounters versus Birkirkara and Sliema.

15 – The 30^th encounter between Hamrun Spartans and Marsaxlokk in history was won 2-1 by the Seasiders. That did not only mean that Hamrun’s streak of six consecutive games over the Blues was rudely disturbed, it was also the 15^th victory in history of Marsaxlokk over the Spartans. A true historic occasion, as the Spartans were last defeated in 2011, a 5-3 win in a Premier League match played on 5 November that year. From these 30 matches, 24 were played in the Premier League, six in the old 2^nd Division and two in the FA Trophy, with Hamrun winning 14 while there was just one draw.

30 – Goalkeeper Felix Lehtinen of Gudja United made his debut in the MPL yesterday against Balzan (0-2). Lehtinen is the first Finnish player in the Maltese Premiership since exactly 30 years, when Timo Paasolainen had a brief stay with Birkirkara during season 1993/94. The 21-year-old is only third player from Finland in the top flight of Maltese football. In fact, the very first one was Pekka Helin, also a goalkeeper, who played for Hibernians during season 1988/89.

100 – Naxxar Lions’ 2-0 victory over Birkirkara on Thursday night was not only their seventh win of the season, but also their 100^th recorded win in the top flight of Maltese football. The Lions spent three seasons in the top division between 1946 and 1949, in which they recorded two wins during every campaign. Their second period amongst the elite of Maltese football was between 1988 and 1991, in which they recorded eight victories in total. This was followed by their most successful period, the eight seasons between 1994 and 2002, winning 49 of the 189 league games played. The Reds won 25 games in the three seasons between 2013 and 2016 and briefly return to Premiership football in season 2017/18, recording another five wins.

120 – Marsaxlokk’s victory over Hamrun Spartans (2-1) was the 120^th win in the Premier League for the seasiders. A very satisfying achievement, however, they will for sure not beat their record of 22 victories (from 28 games) in their Championship winning 2006/07 season. Last season, Marsaxlokk managed to win only five games over their whole 2022/23 campaign, so this is for sure an improvement.