Pembroke notched another victory on Sunday when they downed a less coherent Siggiewi side to strengthen their hold at the top of the standings along with Luxol as the second round of the national league got underway.

Pembroke Tumas GP. 70
(16-16, 17-9, 22-16, 15-17)
Siggiewi 58

Pembroke took sweet revenge for their first-round upset to Siggiewi, keeping on the right track for the fourth successive game in the process. They had forward Michael Pisani back in their fold after missing the previous three games.

The Reds took control towards the middle stages of the second session when Michael Naudi started showing his true mettle in the zone area.

Siggiewi played a careless match, giving away possession on innumerable occasions and showing little cohesion in their play. Pembroke were quick to profit from the situation, converting their fast breaks into points.

The first session was played on an even keel but Siggiewi opened the second one strongly, potting the first five points. Pembroke soon recovered though and were the better side till the break - 33-25.

Joe Galea's men continued to increase their lead after the interval and were 55-41 in front as the last ten minutes got underway.

Seven consecutive points saw Siggiewi back in contention but two missed free-throws from Marco Pisani gave Pembroke an unexpected lifeline as Galea re-organised his ranks in time to save the match.

Pembroke: M. Naudi 28, J. Naudi 10, E. Bezzina 5, J. Galea, T. Riolo 9, O. Said 18, W. Spiteri, D. Cuschieri, T. Degiorgio, M. Pisani.

Siggiewi: D. Schembri 7, M. Pisani 10, J. Doughty, S. Schembri 17, N. Farrugia, A. Portelli 13, A. Micallef, R. Mifsud, S. Cauchi, J. Gatt 11.

Refs: B. Vassallo, J.P. Sammut.

Hamrun Go Mobile 52
(14-18, 17-13, 11-22, 10-13)
Bupa Luxol 66

Luxol were trounced by Pembroke in their previous game but on Sunday they showed glimpses of the form which won them the Kinnie League last season to hand Hamrun a fourth defeat from five matches.

At first, John Tabone's team failed to impose their superiority but in the third session 'three-point ace' Robert Azzopardi found his magic touch which paved the way for Luxol's fourth victory.

Hamrun were slightly the better team in the opening minutes but Luxol came back to lead 18-14 at the end of the first quarter.

Luxol, with pivot Alex Bianchi back in the side after missing the game against Pembroke, struggled to organise their moves in attack and Hamrun managed to level the scores at 31-all at half-time.

After the interval, Luxol's shooting percentage improved significantly but Hamrun were messing up their attacks. Luxol opened a comfortable 53-42 lead by the end of the session.

There were signs of a Hamrun revival in the decisive fourth session but their efforts were weak and hardly troubled the champions who stayed focused to preserve their lead.

Hamrun: C. Griscti, D. Camilleri 2, A. Spiteri 19, S. Pace 16, A. Tabone 6, J. Jetsen 3, P. Ferrante, I. Terrible, A. Sultana 6, K. Borg.

Luxol: D. Falzon 12, I. Mercieca, R. Azzopardi 30, M. Micallef, B. Micallef Trigona 2, M. Bonnici, R. Dalli 2, A. Bianchi 6, A. Cremona 2, S. Cassar 12.

Refs : E. Mangani, C. Farrugia.

Standings:
Pembroke, Luxol 9; Siggiewi 8; Hamrun 6; Footwork 4.

Sunday's fixtures:
2.30 p.m. Luxol vs Footwork; 4.15 p.m. Siggiewi vs Hamrun.

Women's league

Leaders Hibs Go Mobile obtained their sixth victory on the trot last weekend to preserve their unbeaten record after defeating Luxol Vodafone. Depiro Still kept up the pressure, with a close win over Naxxar Danone, while play-offs hopefuls Hamrun Liberty just edged out Kerygma.

Depiro did not utilise inspirational forward Dorianne Galea. As a result, they struggled against a determined Naxxar side.

It was Steve Buttigieg's team that had the better start to lead 12-7 but the champions then pressed hard as the second quarter got underway forcing their opponents into several lost balls to change ends 31-22 ahead.

Eight consecutive points then saw Naxxar a point behind 31-30 only for Depiro to recover their lead 40-32 as the last session got underway. The unrelenting Naxxar came back but committed a series of mistakes which allowed Depiro to wrap up the match at 50-40.

Leaders Hibs were never extended by Luxol and with young forward Beverly Zammit again very much in evidence they led 44-20 at half-time. With Luxol never giving the impression of staging a recovery, Hibs went on to win 79-44.

Hamrun required extra-time to score their second victory in the championship against a luckless Kerygma.

Kerygma led from the start but then struggled in the last minutes allowing Hamrun to pot 12 points and force extra time - 53-53. In the five-minute added time, Hamrun took the lead and never looked back to win 60-58.

Standings: Hibs 12; Depiro 9; Luxol 8; Hamrun, Naxxar 7; Kerygma 6; Qormi 5.

Next fixtures: (Saturday) 2 p.m. Kerygma vs Luxol; 3.45 p.m. Qormi vs Naxxar. (Sunday) 9.15 a.m. Depiro vs Hamrun.