Nadur Youngsters inflicted a heavy 6-1 defeat on the troubled Victoria Hotspurs last weekend to open a two-point gap at the top of the GFA Division One standings.
The Hotspurs, with Romanian Gregory Galbuta making his debut, struck first on 17 minutes through Ian Xuereb but Nadur hit back strongly. After a Milos Stojanovic header hit the bar, Claudio Antunes drew the teams level from a penalty, given for an Alex Tramboo handball.
Nadur pressed on the accelerator and turned the tie in their favour before half-time with goals from Joseph Grima and Antunes.
Soon after the restart, Nadur were awarded a second penalty for a foul by substitute Anthony Briffa on Antunes.
Anthony Portelli made it 4-1 and the match was over as a contest. To further compound matters for the dispirited Victoria, Briffa was sent off for a second bookable offence on 58 minutes.
Grima hit home following a fast Nadur break and Alex Simoncic sealed the issue with the sixth goal eight minutes from time.
In the other match from the top flight, Xagħra United edged Għajnsielem 4-3 to move to third place and leave the Blacks rock bottom.
The Blues looked to have closed the issue inside the first 50 minutes as they stormed into a 4-0 lead following goals from Ejo Nkwocha (35), Michael Bezzina (41, 49) and Thiago Dos Santos (44).
Xagħra eased off after Dos Santos’s goal and Għajnsielem profited from the situation to re-open the issue with three goals in the space of five minutes through Jason Portelli (59), Charlon Tabone (61) and Joseph Buttigieg (64).
Both teams created scoring chances but Xagħra went closest only for Dos Santos to see his effort hit the base of the post.
Għajnsielem could have clinched a dramatic equaliser deep into stoppage time but Joseph Buttigieg’s shot ended just wide.
Division Two
Leaders Kerċem Ajax registered an emphatic 8-1 win over lowly Għarb Rangers to stay unbeaten after nine matches.
Jean Paul Mizzi scored a hat-trick (12, 31, 64) and substitute Andrew Mizzi finished with a brace (75, 84). Sabri Rais (28), Malcolm Vella (35) and Michael Tabone (48) scored the other goals for the Ajax.
Għarb’s consolation goal came from Alan Cini on 68 minutes.
Oratory Youths consolidated second place with a 4-0 win over Munxar Falcons in midweek. Their goals were netted by Christian Cardona (7), Marvin Grech (25) and Andrea Debrincat (56, 66).
The Falcons made up for that upset as they beat Qala Saints 4-0 at the weekend. William Cassar (32) and Michael Pace (45) gave Munxar a 2-0 lead by half-time and Mario Azzopardi (70, 80) scored the other two goals after the break.