Qormi captain Jesmond Micallef in a tussle for the ball with Luxol’s Florin Anton. Photo: Joe Borg

Luxol’s perfect run of five consecutive wins in the Premier Division was halted by a gutsy side Qormi side who produced their best to gain a point in a thrilling 6-6 draw.

Trailing by three goals at the interval, Qormi grew in confidence after the restart to save the match.

Luxol took a three-goal advantage inside the first 10 minutes with goals from William Barbosa, George Frendo and Dale Camilleri.

Allen Medati reduced the gap for Qormi but Barbosa added another one for Luxol before half-time.

Qormi looked a different lot after the change of ends as Marwan Telisi and Medati brought them back into contention. Frendo found the net for Luxol on 28 minutes to make it 5-3 but Medati completed his hat-trick for Qormi and Endrit Kaca’s double saw Luxol fall behind for the first time in the match.

Barbosa, however, saved the day for the league aspirants with a last-minute equaliser.

Balzan maintained their charge at the top of the standings with an 11-3 win over Swieqi. They are sharing second spot with Ħamrun Spartans, one point behind Luxol but with a game in hand.

Frane Despotovic and Boycho Marev gave Balzan a 2-0 half-time lead but they hit their stride in the second half, scoring nine goals as Despotovic and Mark Zammit finished with four goals each.

Marev again put his name on the scoresheet along with Marco Conti to complete the rout for Balzan.

In the First Division, Mellieħa and Lija maintained their winning streak after defeating Luqa St Andrew’s and Sirens, respectively.

Mellieħa retained top spot with a clear 4-2 win over Luqa. For the northerners, Nikolay Filipov played a blinder on his birthday as he netted a double with Robert Magro and Craig Pickard contributing with one goal each.

Lija managed a comfortable 8-1 win over Sirens to stay second in the standings, three points behind Mellieħa.

Aleksandar Ribic, Ryan Bugeja, Redeemer Borg and Antonio Marin scored a brace each to ensure a straightforward win for Lija.

Standings

Premier Division: Luxol 16; Balzan, Ħamrun 15; Swieqi 12; Valletta 6; Qormi 4; Żebbuġ, Gżira 3; Mosta 0.

First Division: Mellieħa 24; Lija 21; Naxxar 19; Luqa 15; Attard 14; Mqabba, Sirens 8; Mdina, Qrendi 7; Msida, Siġġiewi 6; Birżebbuġa 1.