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HAM

The hockey National League came to an end on Sunday with the last two matches. If things go as planned this was the last League played on a gravel surface. Next campaign should be played on the new synthetic pitch that is presently being prepared. Optimistically the Association is hoping that this year's KO Final, scheduled for the 8th June, will be the first game played on the new pitch.

After Sunday's games, which saw Punch & Judy Rabat beat The George Pub 2-0 and Young Stars beat The Athlete's Foot 1-0, the final league table is as follows:

Punch & Judy ended their triumphant season with a 2-0 victory over The George Pub, a victory that ended all hopes The George Pub had of taking second place. A early goal from Robert Aquilina and a late strike from Charlot Antonelli gave the Champions their first victory of the third round. The George Pub gave a good account of themselves despite the absence of Reno Cremona and Luke Busutill Leaver. Young Stars and The Athlete's Foot brought the curtain down on the 2002/03 league campaign. With Young Stars sure of the runner-up spot, the game was a mere formality but still provided some good fare. Young Stars won it thanks to an early second half goal from Ivan Magro. The goal was a just reward for their first half efforts however after the goal The Athlete's Foot came back strongly but their efforts failed to get the equalizer.

Interest in this year's League dropped off early as Punch & Judy set a blistering pace that left all the rest playing catch up. Eight straight wins from the first two rounds left the reigning Champions needing just one point from their last four matches. In the meantime their opponents were dropping points all over the place and at the start of the third round the battle was only on for the second place. Rather surprisingly Punch & Judy lost their first game when they lost 1-0 to The Athlete's Foot. The point they needed however was not long in coming when a week later they drew 1-1 against Young Stars and sealed their fourth title. Their forward Jonathan Seychell finished top-scorer of the League with eight goals.

All in all Young Stars deserved their second place as they were the most consistant of the rest but defeats to The Athlete's Foot and The George Pub and their poor record against Punch & Judy (1pt from three matches) meant that they fell behind earlier on. The George Pub and The Athlete's Foot, in particular the latter, were highly inconsistant. The George Pub went through a bad patch with four straight defeats that left way off mark. A late rally enabled them to make a late attempt on the second place and attempt that fizzled out with the two defeats in their last two games.

The Athlete's Foot performance this year was erratic. They managed to beat the teams above them at least once in the process being the only team to beat Champions Punch & Judy; but they were also capable of dropping five points (out of nine) against bottom club Pasta Poiatti. To their credit The Athlete's Foot launched a number of their junior players in the senior league and this should prove useful in the future. Pasta Poiatti, after a positive Challenge Cup, faced a number of problems during the League. They still put up a number of credible performances and in the final games they notched up their first victory by beating The Athlete's and held Punch & Judy to a goalless draw.
The season now enters its final phase with the K.O. Competiton. Champions Punch & Judy and runners-up Young Stars have been drawn against each other for Saturday's Preliminary Round (start at 17.00hrs). The winner of this match will face The George Pub in the first semi-final scheduled for Sunday 1st June. The second semi-final is between Pasta Poiatti and The Athlete's Foot.

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