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HAM

The last two matches before the Easter break saw Rabat Depiro take a decisive step towards regaining the Championship. Their 2-1 victory over Poiatti Qormi mathematically eliminated the latter from the running and at the same time kept the six-point gap between them and The Hunters’ Tower Rest YS, who beat White Hart 4-1. Having two games left to play (vs. White Hart and Sliema Hs), Rabat need just one more point to make it four League Championships in a row.

Standings:

P W D L F A PTS
Rabat Depiro 10 7 2 1 17 7 23
The Hunters’ Tower Rest. YS 10 5 2 3 17 11 17
Poiatti Qormi 10 4 2 4 13 13 14
Sliema Hs 9 3 3 3 7 7 12
White Hart 9 0 1 8 4 17 1


White Hart 1 vs. The Hunters’ Tower YS 4
Umpires: Liam Pace and Paul Brincat

In Sunday’s first game, The Hunters’ Tower Rest picked up three points that, following Qormi’s defeat at the hands of Rabat, put them into second place. Although mathematically Young Stars are still in contention, they realistically know that now they have to aim for second place. Hockey followers will recall that last year Young Stars lost the runner spot on the last day of the campaign. This time round they will not be in action on the final day but victories in their last two games (vs. Sliema on the 3rd April and vs. Poiatti Qormi on the 10th) will ensure that they will not have any surprises.

On Sunday they struggled hard to overcome White Hart’s resistance and the final score line does not do justice to the efforts of White Hart’s youngsters. Although Young Stars moved the ball around well, White Hart were never out played and the Young Stars goalkeeper on the day, Abdilla, had to bring of two good saves. Young Stars, however, took the lead late in the first half through David Evans and from then on the end result was inevitable. In the second half Evans got a second while Hughes and Bonello were the other scorers for Young Stars. At 3-0, Luke Busutill Leaver pulled one back for White Hart.

Rabat 2 vs. Poiatti Qormi 1
Umpires: Edward Hughes and Joe Lewis

Poiatti Qormi went into this match against Rabat knowing that a victory would put them within three points of the leaders. They tried to maintain their usual passing game but Rabat adopted a strong pressing game that unsettled Qormi and did not let them get their game going. Despite this, Rabat’s incursions into their opponents dee were rare and when they got a hit at goal, Qormi keeper Chircop was up to the challenge.

Rabat’s Radojevic had a good chance when he hit the ball from the top of the dee but saw his rising hit saved by the outstretched arm of Qormi keeper. A few minutes later, the Qormi defence was wrong footed and Vella found himself one on one with the keeper but Chircop came out on top once again. Qormi were rarely threatening and midway through the half Rabat took the lead when the Qormi keeper parried a shot and the rebound fell straight to Charlot Antonelli whose flick gave his side a deserved lead. Rabat kept up the pressure and Poiatti’s defence had to work overtime to keep them at bay. However in the final minutes of the first half, in practically their only decent chance of the first half Qormi drew level. Following a free hit from the right side, the ball ended up at Chris Bugeja whose hit rattled the net and put his side on equal terms going into the half time rest.

This late goal seemed to have inspired the Greens from Qormi as they started the second half much stronger and the game was now much more balanced with both teams sharing possession but rarely creating scoring opportunities. A draw would still have been a good result for Rabat but in the end they took all three points when Kevin Micallef scored the winner after being set up by Aquilina.

The Blue Label National League resumes after Easter on Sunday 3rd April when Rabat take on White Hart at 9.00am and The Hunters Tower Rest face Sliema Hs at 11.00.

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