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HAM

First Victory For Pasta Poiatti

Following their 1-1 draw against Young Stars Punch & Judy Rabat took an unassailable lead at the top of the hockey National League and assured themselves of their fourth title with two matches to spare. Following this result and Pasta Poiatti’s first win of the campaign, 4-1 vs. The Athlete’s Foot, the League standings are as follows:


P W D L F A PTS
Punch & Judy Rabat 10 8 1 1 20 6 25
The George Pub 10 6 0 4 9 12 18
Young Stars 10 5 1 4 13 11 16
The Athlete’s Foot 11 4 1 6 1 3 17 13
Pasta Poiatti 11 1 1 9 9 18 4


Leading Scorers: 8 goals – Jonathan Seychell (Punch & Judy); 5 goals – Luke Busutill Leaver (The George Pub), Chris Bugeja (Young Stars).

Few people will deny that Punch & Judy’s victory this year’s was more then merited. An incredible first two rounds saw the reigning Champions notch up eight victories from eight matches. This, coupled with the fact that their opponents were dropping points all over the place, meant that at the start of the third and final round Punch & Judy needed one point from their last four matches to mathematically take the title. They slipped up at their first attempt when they suffered their first defeat of the campaign going down 1-0 to The Athlete’s Foot, but the point they needed did come at the second attempt thanks to their 1-1 draw with Young Stars. A fourth minute goal from Shaun Falzon did a lot to settle their nerves and even though Chris Bugeja’s equaliser in the second half may have caused some anxious moments, the final whistle allowed Punch & Judy to celebrate in style.

Robert Aquilina’s team has certainly come of age. Four League wins in six years says much on the level that this squad has reached. It would be unfair to mention or pinpoint any particular player but certainly the midfield area was Rabat’s strongest area with Robert Aquilina, Kevin Micallef and Josef Antonelli the lynchpins of their play. Mention must also be made of centre half Chris Bugeja and league top scorer Jonathan Seychell.

Punch & Judy, once they conclude their league commitments, will attempt to win the KO competition and thus secure their first double.

Punch & Judy’s achievement overshadowed in some way Pasta Poiatti’s first victory of the season. The Qormi side registered a significant 4-1 victory over The Athlete’s Foot. The victory was fully deserved against a side that only one week earlier had beaten Punch & Judy. To be fair on The Athlete’s Foot, due to a number of notable absentees, were forced to field an inexperienced side. They suffered two early goals through Sandro Bartolo and Reno Bianchi and despite pulling a goal back before half time through Henry Cachia they rarely threatened the Pasta Poiatti goal and suffered two further goals through Bianchi. For veteran Bianchi this hat trick was the reward for an excellent performance with the cherry on the cake being his third goal – a lofted ball that sailed under the bar with goalkeeper Mallia caught in no man’s land. Bianchi’s serious approach to the game should be an example to the youngsters in the game.

The League continues on Sunday with the most important game being The George Pub against Young Stars; a game that will go a long way to decide who will take the runner up place. This game starts at 9.00am. At 11.00am Pasta Poiatti end their commitments against Punch & Judy.

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