Leaders Sannat Lions and nearest pursuers Għajnsielem maintained their march at the top of the GFA Division One with straightforward victories in their matches from the 15th day of the championship.
Sannat thumped SK Victoria Wanderers 3-0 while Għajn-sielem had the better of Xewkija Tigers 3-1.
The Lions dominated possession for long stretches. After 15 minutes, they were unlucky not to open the scoring when a shot from the distance by Chris Camilleri hit the crossbar.
But, only a minute later, John Camilleri was on target for the Greens with a fine header that gave the keeper no chance.
John Camilleri was denied a second goal by some timely interventions from Victoria keeper Franklin Vella as Sannat continued to dictate matters.
Midway into the second half, John Camilleri finally found a way through with a rasping grounder that beat Vella hands down.
Sannat sealed the issue witha third goal in stoppage time, Eric Nwankwo hitting home from close range after a John Camilleri effort came off the woodwork.
Għajnsielem were superior to Xewkija in the other match from the top flight.
After Alex Simoncic struck a shot against the bar, the Blacks raced into a deserved two-goal lead thanks to Thiago dos Santos’s brace on 26 and 31 minutes.
Xewkija did manage to reduce the deficit on 49 minutes following an excellent free-kick by Kiril Dyakov.
However, Xewkija’s hopes suffered a setback when Josef Xerri was sent off for a foul on Dos Santos 10 minutes from time. The latter made sure of Għajnsielem’s win with a third goal late in the match.
Division Two
Xagħra United and Kerċem Ajax kept up their promotion challenge with high-scoring victories over the two teams occupying the last two places in the table.
Striker Michael Bezzina chalked up five goals as Xagħra thrashed Munxar Falcons 8-1. He joined Kerċem’s Marlon Mamo at the top of the scorers’ list with 13 goals.
The other three goals for Xagħra came from Daniel Bartolo, Daniel Attard and Mark Buhagiar. Christian Micallef scored Munxar’s consolation goal on 35 minutes after they had already conceded four goals.
Kerċem scored three late goals against Qala, who had two players sent off, to make their victory more pronounced.
As expected, Kerċem saw more of the ball and went ahead early on following an own goal by Luke Buttigieg.
But, Qala defended well and almost drew level just before half-time when a shot from outside the area by Joseph Attard smacked against the bar. Qala were hit by a double blow on 68 minutes when the referee dismissed two of their players in the same action.
Benneth Njoku was sent off for a second bookable offence and Marcel Meilaq was red-carded for remarks towards the referee.
Kerċem took advantage and increased their lead on 83 minutes through Jean Paul Mizzi. Substitute Leonard Camilleri put them 3-0 up and Sabri Rais rounded the scoring in the third minute of stoppage time.