Qormi 7
White Hart 1

Championship leaders Qormi scored three goals in the first 11 minutes to pave the way for a comfortable victory.

Steve Tanti netted after only one minute. Juan Sarcia grabbed the second soon after and Keith Calleja added a third after rounding off a crisp move.

Qormi continued to dominate and after White Hart’s David Agius cleared off the line with the goalkeeper beaten, Qormi went further ahead just before half-time when Tanti scored his second and Qormi’s fourth goal.

In the second half, Paul Torpiano pulled one back for White Hart but Qormi struck back immediately when Julian Zahra shot them into a 5-1 lead.

Furthermore, after a short interlude, when White Hart won four penalty corners to no avail, Qormi were awarded a penalty stroke, which Sarcia converted, and a minute from time Rudolph Camilleri scored the seventh goal for his team to complete the rout.

Umpires: Anthony Tabone, Ed-ward Hughes.

Rabat 1
Hotsticks 2

Rabat and Hotsticks exchanged seven penalty corners by the 20th minute when, as a result of Rabat’s third one, Josef Antonelli shot them ahead.

After Hotsticks missed a chance to equalise, they did just that a minute before half-time when Ludolf Pasterhoff levelled the match at a critical moment.

The earlier part of the second half saw Hotsticks apply pressure and in the 43rd minute their efforts were rewarded when Leanne Gauci scored their second goal from an acute angle.

Rabat then laid siege to the Hotsticks’ goal and won nine penalty corners.

The Hotsticks goalkeeper, Elton Farrugia, covered himself in glory by saving four point-blank shots in succession and keeping his goal intact on several other occasions to help his side to victory.

Defeat for a depleted Rabat team means that Qormi now need only one point from their last two matches to secure a back-to-back championship win.

Umpires: Raymond Micallef, Reno Cremona.

Standings
Qormi 16; Rabat 12; Young Stars 12; White Hart 8; Hotsticks 4.