Eight players get one-match ban

Eight players from six Premier League clubs were yesterday handed a one-match ban. Floriana and Marsaxlokk were the worst hit, each having two players on the list.

The Greens, the only team without a win in the league, will be without keeper Simon Agius and defender Julian Briffa for their match against Pietà on Sunday.

Agius was sent off in the 1-0 defeat to Birkirkara for handling the ball outside his box. Briffa was disciplined after collecting a fourth yellow card in Friday's match against the Stripes.

Marsaxlokk, fifth in the table with only 12 points from nine matches, face serious selection problems for their important match against Hamrun on Sunday after Stephen Wellman and Andrè Schembri received a one-match ban.

Schembri's suspension is the consequence of a red card for retaliation in his side's 4-1 defeat to Hibernians whereas Wellman's punishment was triggered by his accumulation of four yellow cards.

Saturday's top-of-the-table clash between Sliema Wanderers and Hibs will be devoid of two established players, one on each side.

Andrew Cohen, the Hibs striker, and Sliema defender Darren Debono are among the players receiving a one-match ban after both saw red last weekend.

Cohen was sent off for a crude challenge on Marsaxlokk's Schembri while Debono was given his marching orders for lashing out at Pietà's Claudio Calleja.

Valletta's Keith Fenech gathered his fourth caution in the 1-0 defeat of Mosta and will miss tomorrow's match against Birkirkara.

The same fate befell Udochukwu Nwoko, Mosta's Nigerian forward, who must now miss his side's fixture against Msida SJ on Saturday.