Stripes keep flickering title hopes alive

The start of the third and final round of the women's league reserved no surprises as Birkirkara and Raiders lived up to their favourites' tag with comprehensive victories against Mosta and Rabat Ajax.

Six points behind runaway leaders Hibernians, Birkirkara knew that anything less than a victory from their encounter with Mosta would all but extinguish their fading title hopes.

The Stripes, who had goalkeeper Dimech returning from a one-match suspension, scored one goal in the opening half, courtesy of Rebecca D'Agostino, but translated their supremacy into five goals after the change of ends.

Chantalle Demanuele had a fine shot which rebounded off the post but seven minutes into the second half, the Stripes went 2-0 up. D'Agostino delivered the final pass to Elaine Bonnici who beat Camilleri with a low drive.

D'Agostino made it 3-0 on 62 minutes when her effort was fumbled by Camilleri.

Mosta may have reduced the leeway six minutes later but Jane Coates's shot ended wide. Birkirkara continued to push forward, adding a fourth goal from a Demanuele penalty after D'Agostino was felled inside the box.

Fifteen minutes from the end, Demanuele fired home from a goalmouth scramble before D'Agostino completed her hat-trick with a rising shot.

Late in the game, Mosta came close to a consolation goal but a shot by Coates crashed against the crossbar and a Fallon Sammut header was cleared off the line. Mario Azzopardi was the referee of the match.

In Sunday's second game, Raiders notched their 100th goal in 87 matches in their 5-0 rout of bottom team Rabat Ajax.

Raiders made a significant step towards their third league victory by surging into a three-goal lead inside the first 45 minutes. Amanda Atkins, Damaris Cassar and Marcia Zammit were their goalscorers in the first half.

There was a conspicuous decline in the rhythm of the game after the restart but Raiders still managed to hit two more goals through Atkins and Zammit. The match was controlled by Mitchell Scerri.

Standings: Hibernians 30; Birkirkara 27; Melita 18; Raiders, Mosta 10; Rabat Ajax 0.

Leading scorers: Dorianne Theuma (Hibs) 15 goals; Sarah Caruana (Hibs), Chantalle Demanuele (Birkirkara) 11; Amanda Atkins (Raiders) 10; Rebecca D'Agostino (Birkirkara) 8.

Sunday's matches: 9 a.m. Hibernians vs Melita; 11 a.m. Birkirkara vs Raiders.