Nadur Youngsters beat lowly Munxar Falcons 3-1 last weekend to maintain their perfect start to the season with a fourth consecutive win to open a four-point lead at the top of the standings.
Xewkija Tigers and Victoria Hotspurs had victories over SK Victoria Wanderers and Xagħra United respectively to stay in contention and in another match Kerċem Ajax were held to a draw by Oratory Youths.
Munxar tried hard to resist the Nadur pressure but their fort crumbled just before half-time when David Fenech put the leaders ahead from a free-kick.
Fenech doubled the score soon after the restart and on the hour Jonathan Soares practically sealed Nadur’s victory with a third goal.
Nadur lifted their foot off the pedal in the late stages and Munxar profited to make the score look more respectable with a Paul Anthony Attard goal six minutes from time.
Xewkija are second in the standings thanks to their narrow 1-0 win over SK Victoria.
The Wanderers could have opened the score early on but a Peter Anizoba shot was partially blocked by keeper Lorjean Xuereb and defender Manwel Xerri recovered in time to avert the danger.
Xewkija scored the goal that mattered on 29 minutes.
A Rodney Buttigieg effort was half parried by Simon Agius and from the rebound Dene Shields fired in goal.
Victoria tried to hit back with a Fernando Giarrizzo attempt cleared off the line by Shields and on another occasion a Giarrizzo free-kick was saved by Xuereb.
Victoria Hotspurs recovered from their upset in the previous match to hammer the luckless Xagħra 4-0.
The Hotspurs scored two goals in each half. Saturday Nanapere opened the score on 19 minutes and Noel Borg doubled the lead on 38 minutes with a tap-in following a fine move by Nanapere in the opponents’ box.
Nanapere made it 3-0 on 57 minutes and the Nigerian then released skipper Daniel Farrugia who netted with a low drive.
Kerċem Ajax dropped further points when they could not go beyond a 1-1 draw with Oratory Youths.
Kerċem looked overconfident and Oratory took a deserved lead on 41 minutes through Shaun Attard whose shot left keeper Leonard Camilleri stranded.
The Ajax doubled their efforts after the break and on 70 minutes they clinched an equaliser through Mario Mifsud.
Late on, the referee showed a red card to Kerċem’s Petar Kyumyurdzhiev for retaliation and his team-mate Manuel Tabone got a second caution for dissent.
Oratory almost took advantage of the two extra players they had but a goal-bound Andrea Debrincat shot in stoppage time was deflected to a corner at the nick of time.
Division Two
Sannat Lions registered their first win of the campaign after beating Żebbuġ Rovers who had keeper Baskal Saliba in fine form to keep his team in the match.
The Lions scored the goal that decided the encounter on 58 minutes when the referee awarded them a penalty for a Christian Cassar handball. Fernando De An-drade converted from the spot.
In another match, St Lawrence Spurs also chalked up their first three-pointer following a 3-1 win over Għajnsielem.
The Spurs made it 1-0 on 18 minutes through Daniel Pace and Senegalese striker Mambaye Boye doubled the score with a fine header on 53 minutes. Pace netted again on 62 minutes after concluding another fine Boye move.
The Blacks scored their consolation goal on 72 minutes through Portuguese midfielder Maurilio De Jesus.