Aloysians von Taine and Luxol kept up the pressure on men’s National League leaders La Salle Rivareno with victories over Kavallieri RS2 and Swieqi Phoenix respectively as the competition enters an interesting phase at the University Sports Hall, Tal-Qroqq.

Aloysians edged Kavallieri 24-22 in a tight encounter and Luxol joined them in second place after a 34-29 win over a spirited Swieqi side.

The two joint second-placed teams now have 13 points from six matches, two behind first-placed La Salle who swept past bottom-placed Sayitmalta HMS 31-19.

As the scoreline indicates, champions La Salle were the better team on court as they imposed their superiority over lowly HMS, still the only team without points in the league.

The match-of-the-week was the clash between Aloysians and Kavallieri who were seeking victory to get back in the reckoning.

The match started on a flowing but balanced pattern with no team managing to open a sizeable lead.

However, Aloysians had captain Philip Mifsud back from a wrist injury and his presence helped as they seized the lead and never yielded their position despite the strong resistance from their opponents.

Led by player/coach Joseph Tanti, Luxol had to sweat to beat Swieqi.

Luxol improved in defence and also raised their rhythm in attack.

However, they only succeeded in taking control in the last 10 minutes of the match before sealing a hard-earned win.

Standings (after six matches)
La Salle 15; Luxol, Aloysians 13; Swieqi, Kavallieri 6; Sayitmalta HMS 0.