The Gozo FA Division One resumes this weekend with the opening matches from the second round of the championship.

The main attraction should be the top-of-the-table clash between current leaders Għajnsielem and champions Xewkija Tigers, who are trailing the Blacks by a point.

The corresponding first-round clash between the two major contenders for the honours this season ended 2-2 with ten-man Xewkija hitting back from two goals down to save the match.

Għajnsielem and Xewkija are through to the semi-finals of the BOV GFA Cup, making Sunday’s league match even more interesting as both teams continue to vie for the honours this season.

The other match from the Gozitan top flight on Sunday pits together the bottom two in the standings – SK Victoria Wanderers and St Lawrence Spurs.

The Wanderers only managed one victory from six matches, leaving them second-bottom with three points as the Spurs only have one point to show and they’re the only team without a win so far.

Meanwhile, Qala Saints and Għarb Rangers surprised Munxar Falcons and Xagħra United, respectively, in the Division Two KO to reach the final.

Munxar took a first-half lead through Stefan Farrugia but Qala scored four goals – through Dylan Bellotti (48, 55), Luke Portelli (53) and Manuel Buttigieg – to progress.

In the other semi-final, Għarb shocked Division Two leaders Xagħra United with two first-half goals scored by Sylvan Galea (27) and Paul Anthony Attard (38).

Xagħra tried hard to avoid elimination in the second half but they only managed to pull one goal back scored by Joseph Buhagiar on 67 minutes.

President’s Cup

With the competitions on the sister island observing a short break for Christmas, the GFA took the opportunity to host the first edition of the President’s Cup charity match between Xewkija Tigers and Maltese champions Hibernians at the Gozo Stadium.

Xewkija practically threw in the towel after the opening few minutes as Hibs, who only had Jackson Lima as foreigner available, scored two early goals through Joseph Mbong and Clayton Failla.

The Paolites dictated matters throughout and added five more goals along the way – Andre Agius (22), Jurgen Degabriele (29, 48) and Mbong (71, 89) – to make their victory more pronounced.

Xewkija did have some sporadic occasions where they could have scored at least a consolation goal but the efforts of Daniel Bogdanovic never troubled the Hibs keeper.

After the match, Hibernians captain Andrew Cohen was presented with the President’s Cup by Samuel Azzopardi, the GFA president.

Current standings