Everything still to play for in relegation battle

The 2005/06 Premier League campaign is likely to be remembered not only for the umpteenth title duel between Sliema Wanderers and Birkirkara but also for the close battle to avoid the drop.

Pietà Hotspurs, Floriana, Mosta and Hamrun Spartans are the four teams fighting to keep their Premier League status.

Pietà's 2-0 victory over Hamrun Spartans last weekend only served to intensify the uncertainty in the bottom part of the standings with only four points separating the Hotspurs from bottom-placed Hamrun at the start of the second and final round of the Relegation Pool. Floriana and Mosta trail Pietà by just one point.

With all teams having to play three more matches to complete their schedule, the situation is too close to call.

Hamrun Spartans, with only 10 points to their credit after losing all their Relegation Pool matches so far, have the toughest task.

Sunday's loss to Pietà has left Michael Degiorgio's team needing to win their remaining three assignments, starting with next Friday's match against Floriana, if they are to stay up.

Hamrun's perilous position represents an astounding turnaround in their fortunes. In February, the Spartans were only 90 minutes away from a place in the Championship Pool only to lose their final first phase match against Msida St Joseph which condemned them to the Relegation Pool.

"Disastrous" was the adjective used by Hamrun coach Michael Degiorgio when asked by The Times to describe his team's performances in the Relegation Pool.

"It's very difficult for me to find the reasons behind my team's slump in the Relegation Pool," Degiorgio admitted.

"Over the past few weeks, the club has done everything possible to try and lift the morale of the team but still our performances failed to improve.

"It could be that, psychologically, my team has not recovered from the disappointment of missing out on a berth in the Championship Pool. That defeat to Msida hit our morale hard."

"I think that the main difference between the other teams and us in the Relegation Pool has been the influence of the foreign players," Degiorgio added.

"I don't want to point fingers at no-one but it's crystal clear that the foreign players of Floriana, Pietà and Mosta have made the difference in this crucial phase of the campaign while our three players have been off form."

Degiorgio said it is difficult to predict which teams will survive but promised that his team will fight till the very end.

"It's very difficult to comment on the potential outcome of the relegation fight because things are very tight," he said.

"We are certainly facing a giant task to extend our stay in the Premier League for another season but I want my team to battle on. We must take nine points from the next three matches... failure to do that will see us relegated."

Like Hamrun, Floriana have failed to live up to expectations since the start of the second phase. After they beat Hamrun in their first outing, Floriana's performances suffered a nosedive with the result that they lost their next matches against Pietà and Mosta to slide back into the mire of relegation.

Team skipper Riad-Mynel Gango-Rtsa blamed Floriana's difficulties on complacency.

"After opening our Relegation Pool commitments with a win over Hamrun, we fell in the trap of thinking that we had already secured survival," the Congolese defender said.

"We went into the matches against Pietà and Mosta with the wrong attitude and we paid dearly for that. Now we have learnt from our mistakes and the team seems to have rediscovered its best form as our trophy win against Msida has shown.

"The spirit in the team is very good and we are all looking forward to our final three matches.

"There is no room for calculations at this stage and we just have to win our remaining matches to make sure of our status.

"Looking at the four teams, I regard Mosta and Floriana as favourites to survive."

Pietà will certainly disagree with Gango-Rtsa's view. Sunday's success over Hamrun highlighted the team's growing confidence with the return of Martin Deanov providing a shot in the arm for the Hotspurs.

Bulgarian coach Georgi Deanov is pleased with the performances of his young team but warned that the real business starts now.

"I'm really proud of my players," Deanov told The Times.

"Although we have a lot of young players, they have shown great maturity in the last two matches and fought hard to put the club in a good position in the Relegation Pool.

"Still, it's far from over. From now on, every match will have a huge effect on the relegation race. All four teams can still do it. Hamrun will surely get back in contention if they beat Floriana on Friday. I'm expecting a very tight battle and the teams that commit the least mistakes, will make it through."

Mosta have been the revelation team of the Relegation Pool. At the start of the second phase, the Blues lay six points behind the then joint-leaders Floriana and Hamrun Spartans and few, if anyone, believed that the Blues had a chance of surviving.

100 per cent record

However, Charles Agius's men have proved their critics wrong as they are the only team with a 100 per cent record in the Relegation Pool.

The Mosta mentor believes that the feel-good factor generated by their excellent run of late could well lead the team to fulfil their target.

"The team has peaked at the right time," Agius said.

"At the end of the first phase, we had a very tough job on our hands but the players kept believing in themselves. We managed to win our first match against Pietà and from then the players did not look back."

Agius admitted that his team still had a long way to go to secure their top-flight standing and the final three matches will be crucial for their chances of salvation.

"It's vital to point out that we haven't achieved anything yet," Agius claimed. "We have three massive games coming up. All the good work we have done so far will come to nothing if we fail to perform in these final matches.

"Over the next few weeks, we must maintain the same level of concentration and commitment we showed in our first three matches of the second phase."

Relegation fight... upcoming clashes

Pietà Hotspurs
April 29 vs Mosta
May 6 vs Floriana
May 13 vs Hamrun Spartans

Floriana
April 21 vs Hamrun Spartans
May 6 vs Pietà Hotspurs
May 12 vs Mosta

Mosta
April 29 vs Pietà Hotspurs
May 5 vs Hamrun Spartans
May 12 vs Floriana

Hamrun Spartans
April 21 vs Floriana
May 5 vs Mosta
May 13 vs Pietà Hotspurs