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Hockey Assn of Malta

On Sunday Punch & Judy Rabat got the victory they needed against their closest rivals, The Hunters Tower Rest and with one game remaining they were confirmed as Champions for the third consecutive time; their fifth victory in seven years. This year’s triumph was not blitzkrieg win of last year when Punch & Judy had all but rapped up the title at the start of the third round. After a blistering start with three consecutive wins, 5-1 vs. The George Pub, 5-0 vs. Pasta Poiatti Qormi and 5-1 against newcomers Celtics, Rabat came a cropper against the sides that would eventually maintain some sort of challenge to their title aspirations, losing 2-0 to The Hunters Tower Rest and 2-1 to Sliema Hs. The end of the first round saw them fourth points adrift from the top spot.

From then on however nothing would stop them. They started the second round with a 7-1 draping of The George Pub and from then on they notched up nine consecutive victories, which saw them end the second round three points ahead of their rivals; which lead they maintain up to the decisive match on Sunday.

On Sunday they started off the better side and in the space of five minutes half way through the half they struck a double blow thanks to goals from Jason Vella and, inevitably, Josef Antonelli. These goals rattled The Hunters Tower who up till then had done very little to win the game. However a spirited rally late in the half produced a goal from Nicky Agius Darmanin and the stage was set for the decisive second half.

Uncharacteristically Rabat opted to slow down the rhythm of the game and allowed Young Stars to set the pace. The Floriana side immediately set out to level the game. Rabat defended well and in their first proper attack of the half they were awarded a penalty following an infringement by goalkeeper Mizzi. Chris Bugeja stepped up but his stroke sailed wide. The match was not over and this penalty miss gave fresh courage to The Hunters Tower Rest as Rabat’s confidence seemed stutter slightly. Young Stars pressed forward and the Punch & Judy defence went through some anxious moments with their goalkeeper twice saving well off a couple of Chris Attard’s hum-dingers.

Punch & Judy had their chances but on at least two occasions Josef Antonelli opted to take on the Young Stars defence single-handed when his teammates were better placed. If Young Stars had pulled back the result, these might have been important misses but as things turned out no damage was done and the final whistle found Punch & Judy still with a one-goal lead and an unassailable lead at the top of the table.

Earlier on Sunday another match was played as Sliema Hs maintained their hopes of a second place thanks to a 3-1 victory over Pasta Poiatti Qormi. A penalty from Michael Caruana Smith gave them a 1-0 half-time lead which lead they maintained late into the game until goals from Liam Pace and a deflected Steve Cachia flick made the score 3-0. A goal from Philip Magri, right on the stroke of time, was mere consolation for Pasta Poiatti even though the goal was the pick of the bunch.

After Sunday’s games the situation of the National League is as follows:


P W D L F A PTS
Punch & Judy Rabat 14 12 0 2 49 12 36
The Hunters Tower Rest 14 9 3 2 25 10 30
Sliema Hs. 13 8 3 2 22 15 27
The George Pub 13 3 3 7 18 35 12
Pasta Poiatti Qormi 13 1 2 10 8 30 5
Celtics YS 13 1 1 11 14 37 4

Leading Scorers: 17 goals – Josef Antonelli (Punch & Judy);
10 goals – Chris Bugeja (Celtics YS), Liam Pace (Sliema Hs)

The League continues on Sunday with two matches that do not include the two top sides. At 9.00am Pasta Poiatti Qormi and Celtics face off in what is virtually a decider for the bottom place. Celtics won the first round match 1-0 while in the second round the game ended 2-2. In the second match, Sliema Hs will continue the attempt to take second place when they face The George Pub. So far the matches between have ended 2-2 and 3-2 for Sliema Hs.

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