Xewkija Tigers beat nearest rivals Nadur Youngsters 3-1 in a direct clash for the title and with three more matches to go the champions are now in a good position to retain the title for another year after opening a four-point lead.

This match was the last fixture from the first round of the Championship Pool, attracting a sizeable crowd to the stadium.

Nadur were looking to take sole leadership with victory over Xewkija but it was the Tigers who returned home with the points to move closer to their seventh championship in their club’s history.

Xewkija were without Dene Shields while Nadur did not field regular goalkeeper Mark Grima due to injury.

The Tigers found a breakthrough on 34 minutes when Nadur keeper Charlon Muscat failed to hold a free-kick and John Camilleri pushed the ball into an open goal.

Nadur staged a strong reaction and scored a deserved equaliser on 64 minutes.

Xewkija keeper Adrian Parnis half-parried a Joseph Vella grounder and from the rebound substitute Brandon Said hit home to make it one-all.

There was tension on the field but Xewkija kept hold of their nerves to win the encounter.

On 82 minutes Daniel Bogdanovic netted with a shot at the far post and five minutes later Chris Camilleri made it 3-1 with a simple tap-in after exchanging passes inside the box with Bogdanovic.

In another match from the Championship Pool, Kerċem Ajax and Victoria Hotspurs earned a point each after a 1-1 draw.

Kerċem opened the score on 19 minutes through Petar Kyumyurdzhiev from a corner but the scores became level five minutes after the break when Keith Bonello hit home, also from a flag-kick.

Meanwhile, in a Relegation Pool match, SK Victoria Wanderers beat Sannat Lions 1-0 for the latter team to lose all their hopes of saving their status at the end of the season.

Sannat tried hard to extend their chances by another week or two but second-bottom Wanderers were equally determined to claim full points to stay alive in the race to avoid the drop, scoring the winner through Sunday Baala just after the hour mark.

The tussle to avoid the relegation play-off position became even more complicated after St Lawrence Spurs turned defeat into a 2-1 win over Oratory Youths.

Oratory took the lead through a fine strike from Thiago Dos Santos but the Spurs turned the tide in their favour with a Matthias Uzor double (34, 67). Oratory were unlucky in the final stages as attempts by James Tabone and Darko Stojanovic were stopped by the crossbar.

Blacks promoted

Għajnsielem made sure of promotion from Division Two following a 3-1 win over Qala Saints.

The Blacks opened the score through Michael Bezzina before half-time but Qala levelled matters with a Christian Portelli goal on 62 minutes.

Għajnsielem were superior though and goals from Michael Bezzina (70) and Kenny Hili (86) made sure they open an unassailable lead at the top of the table.

In another match from the penultimate match-day of the championship, Żebbuġ Rovers registered a 4-2 win over bottom-placed Għarb Rangers.

Żebbuġ opened a two-goal lead following goals from top-scorer Manwel Cordina (6, 28) but Rangers hit back to make it 2-2 with goals after the break from Paul Anthony Attard (57) and Frank Attard (61).

The Rovers hit their stride again and made sure of victory with goals scored by Alex Tramboo (68) and Christian Vella (70).

Division One

Division Two