Young Stars 3
White Hart 2

A crisp morning produced a match which, for long periods, was dominated by action in midfield but in the end provided entertaining fare and an incident-packed 16-minute period in the second half. Young Stars edged White Hart 3-2 to go top of the standings.

The teams exchanged penalty corners by the 10th minute and White Hart’s young Kyle Micallef fluffed an easy chance to put his team ahead.

Young Stars took the lead in the 22nd minute when Luke Borg Costanzi found the net with a reverse stick hit from the top of the D. The same player had a chance to double his team’s tally but saw his shot saved by goalkeeper Robert Vassallo Agius.

White Hart counter-attacked and their efforts were rewarded when Keith Laferla equalised, the score remaining unchanged until half-time.

Young Stars began the second half brightly. After failing to benefit from two consecutive penalty corners, they were awarded a penalty on 47 minutes which Edward Hughes converted in style to put them 2-1 ahead.

They continued to have the better of the exchanges and were awarded another penalty in the 60th minute, Hughes netting his second goal to fire his team into a 3-1 lead.

White Hart pulled one back three minutes later when a Tony Azzopardi effort was deflected into goal.

Towards the end of the encounter White Hart’s Liam Azzopardi shot wide from a good position, leaving Young Stars victorious when the final whistle blew.

Umpires: Andre Ghio, Keith Vella.

Rabat 3
Sliema Hotsticks 2

Hotsticks pressed early but could not capitalise after winning three consecutive penalty corners.

Rabat then came into the picture and after probing the Hotsticks’ defence for a few minutes, they took the lead when Kevin Micallef met a cross from the right to open the score.

After Mario Galea missed an easy chance, Rabat went 2-0 ahead when Michael Galea netted in the 26th minute.

Hotsticks hit back and two minutes later Ryan Dalli reduced the deficit as a result of a penalty corner action.

Before half-time, Rabat restored their two-goal cushion when a defender deflected a shot which went into the net off the Hotsticks goalkeeper’s pads.

The second half started with Rabat holding their own in midfield but Hotsticks, who can be considered as the comeback kings, scored their second goal thanks to Ludolf Rasterhoff.

Rabat failed to convert a penalty corner awarded to them and although applying further pressure towards the end, they were unable to increase their lead, winning a close tussle by the odd goal in five.

Umpires: Paul Brincat, Reno Cremona.

Standings
Young Stars 7 points; Qormi 6; Rabat 4; White Hart 2; Hotsticks 1.

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