Qormi 2
Sliema Hotsticks 0

As opposed to the previous weekend, Sunday’s programme of matches at Corradino were played in blistering sunshine and there is no doubt that the heat must have effected all players on the pitch.

In fact, the teams hardly put any pressure on each other. It was down to a couple of individual efforts which made the difference in this match, in particular.

Ten minutes into the game, neither keeper had yet touched the ball.

However, on 12 minutes, Qormi’s Steve Tanti got hold of the ball just outside the 25 and, after neatly avoiding a tackle from two defenders, hit a shot from the edge of the D leaving Borg in goal helpless.

Qormi seemed to be happy with this situation. So much so that although Hotsticks tried to provide a reaction and even had more of the ball than their opponents, they hardly created any danger on the Qormi goal.

After the break, Qormi had a couple of short corners but, it seems, their strikers were not in form on Sunday. Even with a man up, when Hotsticks’ Keith Scicluna was yellow carded, their usually lethal strike force failed to capitalise.

It was when an aerial ball created an anomaly in the Sliema defence on 58 minutes that Qormi pounced, Keith Calleja nabbing the ball and passed with a reverse hit to the unmarked Tanti who had no problem slotting his and Qormi’s second.

With that the game had no further story as Qormi strengthened their defence to keep the doors closed and edge closer to a fourth consecutive title.

Umpires: David Agius, James Mizzi.

Rabat 1
Young Stars 2

Rabat were playing without the suspended Brian Tanti, but even after ten minutes had passed and both sides had sort of tested the opposing goalkeepers, there was no real conviction in either teams’ play.

Young Stars needed the points more than Rabat to keep in touch with Qormi. They started coming into the match when they won their first short corner. However, they fluffed their lines, twice, as Rabat’s attempt at clearing the ball gave midfielder Edward Hughes a second bite at the cherry, only to see his ball going wide.

Both midfields got involved in a lot of exchanges and tempers started to fray, resulting in a couple of green cards but the match was quickly brought under control.

Then, the game took a quick twist when Jonathan Micallef expertly rounded up the keeper and slot in beautifully to give Rabat the lead.

Barely a minute had passed, when Young Stars were awarded a short corner. Mark Camilleri was at hand and with a great flick beat Rabat’s Ian Azzopardi to level the game.

In the second half, the game continued with a lot of exchanges in midfield. Young Stars had a couple of short corners but this time, they were ineffective.

A mix-up during substitution led to a Young Stars player being given a yellow card but Rabat did not capitalise from the extra player advantage.

Not only so but in a counter attack, Young Stars were awarded a penalty corner from which Clive Williams was at hand to slot in from a tight angle.

Rabat reacted but Young Stars defended nervously for a narrow win.

Umpires: Manuel Imbroll, Luke Busuttil Leaver.

Standings
Qormi 15; Young Stars 12; Sliema Hotsticks 7; Rabat 5, White Hart 5.