Xewkija Tigers and Kerċem Ajax, who face each other this weekend, maintained their chase of leaders Għajnsielem after hard-earned wins over SK Victoria Wanderers and Oratory Youths, respectively.

Xewkija struggled to impose their play in the first half as the Wanderers held tight and also created some scoring opportunities.

Xewkija had a goal by Daniel Bogdanovic disallowed and a bad clearance by the Wanderers’ defence hit the crossbar.

The Tigers scored the winner from a free-kick, taken by Bogdanovic whose well-hit shot soared into the net just before half-time.

Xewkija tried to hit the Wanderers with a second goal after the break but were often erratic in their finishing. They could have sealed victory in stoppage time but a goal by John Camilleri, which seemed legitimate, was disallowed by the referee after protests for an offside by the Wanderers.

Kerċem beat the Youths 2-1 in a match they dominated for the first hour but fell apart in the latter stages.

Claudio Antunes had a goal ruled out for an infringement early on but Kerċem were not to be denied.

They opened the scoring midway through the half when Juergen Attard committed an own goal.

Minutes later, another goal by Kerċem’s Charles Mercieca was also chalked off for a foul but on 39 minutes Shaun Attard made it 2-0 with a fine strike from a pass by Antunes.

Oratory had a golden opportunity to halve the deficit on 41 minutes when the referee awarded them a penalty for a foul by Mercieca on Anderson Ribeiro.

However, the Brazilian striker saw his weak spot-kick sail over the bar.

After the break, Kerċem failed to get a ‘killer’ third goal and were made to pay for their failures as the Youths got back in business thanks to a goal from a Manwel Gauci free-kick.

Suddenly, the Greens began to panic and also ended with nine players in a 10-minute spell.

Dylan Mercieca was sent off for a foul on 74 minutes and Antunes followed him soon after for what the referee thought was his second bookable offence.

Kerċem claimed that their player had not been shown a yellow card before but the referee stood by his decision, even after consulting the two assistants.

Oratory pressed hard for an equaliser but Kerċem held firm to preserve their slender lead.

It transpires that the referee realised that he had made a mistake in dismissing Antunes and made reference to this in his match report. This makes Antunes available for the next game.

Xagħra drop points

Division Two leaders Xagħra United dropped two precious points last weekend when they were held to a one-all draw by Sannat Lions who were the more enterprising side on the day.

Sannat went in front through Daniel Borg very early in the match but the Blues scored the equaliser through Victor John Saliba on 20 minutes.

Nadur profited from Xagħra’s slip-up to reduce the gap at the top to two points after trouncing Qala Saints 4-0.

Christian Debono scored a hat-trick for Nadur with Shaun Muscat sealing victory with a fourth goal 10 minutes from time.