The BOV Premier League will re-sume this evening after a brief suspension of the competition which must have come at the right moment for all players, officials and administrators concerned to get together and discuss what needs to be done to lessen the tension during matches this summer.

The two fixtures which were called off late Friday, less than 24 hours before they were scheduled to start, will be played today as Sirens Ritter Sport continue with their hunt for a Championship Pool berth while second-placed San Ġiljan Allcare Insurance will be seeking to beat Valletta McDonald’s and cut the deficit with leaders Neptunes Grimaldi to two points.

As things stand at present, Sliema Frank Salt Real Estate look favourites to book the remaining place in the Championship Pool at the end of the round robin phase.

The third-placed Blues have beaten Sirens in a direct clash earlier this month and showed great commitment in their last match against leaders Neptunes in another tight derby that finished 10-all.

Sirens are six points behind Sliema but have today’s match in hand. Victory would keep them in with a chance, hoping for a Sliema slip-up which would come as no surprise so balanced is the competition this year.

Sliema were held to an unexpected draw by Exiles (11-11) on July 11 but the bottom-placed team came a cropper in their next showing as they were soundly beaten by San Ġiljan (18-6). On their part, the Saints were back on the winning track following defeat to Neptunes (8-11) in their previous match.

Valletta are a team in the process of growing as most of their performances in the league have shown.

At the moment, the City team are no contenders for the title as they lack manpower and consistency in their play, but they’ve given all their opponents a good run for their money as Sirens can confirm following the first-round 13-10 defeat to Anthony Farrugia’s team.

The three points forfeited on that occasion will probably come back to haunt the St Paul’s Bay team when the split between the top and bottom three is made early next month.

Today’s fixtures
Sirens vs Exiles - 18.45
Valletta vs San Ġiljan - 20.00

Premier League