Valletta and Birkirkara made their intentions clear last weekend when the first round of matches from the Championship Pool were played. The two rivals returned home with three precious points in their bags to maintain their march at the top of the standings.
Birkirkara were first in action on Friday when they beat Sliema 2-1 and Valletta followed 24 hours later with a 6-2 hammering of Tarxien Rainbows.
Also on Friday, champions Hibernians showed that their challenge to retain the title is not over yet following a 1-0 victory over Qormi in a match where Paolites' forward Andrew Cohen played a blinder for his side. He delivered a perfect ball for Miguel Lopes de Pina to score the winner in the opening half.
Qormi are still third in the standings, five points adrift of the leading duo but Hibs are lurking behind in fourth place as the race for European berths this season is set to be a close one as the competition intensifies.
Birkirkara produced a polished display to have the better of Sliema, a team still struggling for consistency despite the coaching change last month.
Sylvano Comvalius and Trevor Cilia scored for the Stripes before the Blues had a goal controversially disallowed for offside in a frantic finale during which they pulled one back through Ivan Woods.
In the opening two rounds of the campaign, Tarxien had succeeded in avoiding defeat against Valletta on two occasions but on Saturday the Citizens were a class apart. Jordi Cruyff scored three times and Declan O'Brien twice in a pronounced 6-2 win at the Hibs Stadium. The other goal for the winners came from Terrence Scerri.
Tarxien had managed to draw level twice before half-time, thanks to goals from Andrew Decesare, but when Cruyff scored his second penalty of the day, a few minutes after the interval, there was only one team on the pitch.
Meanwhile, the opening match from the Relegation Pool produced some thrilling moments for those present at Corradino on Saturday as Msida St Joseph fought back from two goals down to beat fellows-in-distress Dingli Swallows 3-2.
Dino Cachia and Joseph Okonkwo gave Dingli a headstart but the Saints hit back strongly after the break with goals from Ndayi Kalenga (2) and Miguel Ciantar to secure three precious points in their bid to avoid the drop.
Scorers
Birkirkara: Comvalius 12 (2 pens); Galea 7; Cilia 6; Pulo 5; Mallia 3, Bajada 3; Fenech, Buhagiar, Vukanac, Nisevic. Own goals - Wellman (vs Qormi); Ciantar (vs Floriana). Red cards: Paris (vs Hibs), Zerafa (vs Qormi).
Dingli: Okonkwo 10 (2 pens), Borg, Cachia, Da Silva. Own goals - Tabone (vs Birkirkara); Bonnici (vs Ħamrun). Red cards: Fiteni (vs Ħamrun), Cachia (vs Tarxien), Tellus (vs Sliema, vs Qormi), Caruana (vs Msida), E. Farrugia (vs Msida).
Floriana: Darmanin 10; Wasiu 3; Anonam 2, Caruana 2; Simmonds, Ciantar, M. Briffa, Doffo, Zlydarev. Own goal - Herrera (vs Hibs). Red cards - J. Briffa (vs Hibs, vs Qormi); Said (vs Dingli); Doffo (vs Sliema), Zlydarev (vs Msida).
Ħamrun: Pereira 8 (3 pens); Mawete 4; Spiteri 3, Fenech 3; Cucciardi 2, Micallef 2, Zammit (pen). Own goal - Magro (vs Tarxien). Red cards - Micallef (vs Birkirkara), Pereira (vs Floriana), Fenech (vs Tarxien).
Hibs: Cohen 6 (3 pens.); Malasenoks 4; Barbara 3, Galabov 3, J. Caruana 3, Pulis 3, Callejas 3; Herrera 2; Cauchi, B. Camilleri, Lopes de Pina. Own goals - Conceicao (vs Dingli), Fenech (vs Ħamrun). Red cards - Grech (vs Msida SJ), Muscat (vs Tarxien), Barbara (vs Qormi).
Msida: T. Farrugia 4; Lattes 3; Kalenga 2, Spiteri 2, Aganun, Formosa, Ciantar. Own goal: Conceicao (vs Dingli).
Qormi: Camilo 17 (1 pen.); Effiong 8; Grima 3; Farrugia 2 (1 pen.), Deguara 2, Bartolo 2; Chetcuti, Wellman, Giglio. Red card - Fenech (vs Hibs).
Sliema: Mifsud Triganza 10; Woods 7 (1 pen); Dronca 3 (3 pens); Bartolo 2; Failla, Isaac, Mintoff, Pedrinho, Alcorse, Azzopardi, Fenech. Own goal - T. Farrugia (vs Msida). Red card - Gatt Baldacchino (vs Floriana), Pedrinho (vs Msida), Fenech (vs Hibs), Muscat (vs Hibs).
Tarxien: Denni 11 (1 pen); Ribeiro 10; Decesare 3; Tanti 2, Calabretta 2; Shead, Everton, Camilleri. Own goal - Gatt Baldacchino (vs Sliema). Red cards - Ribeiro (vs Dingli, vs Ħamrun), Camilleri (vs Sliema), Cassar (vs Ħamrun).
Valletta: Scerri 13; Cruyff 9 (2 pens); Priso 7 (3 pens); O'Brien 6; G. Agius 5; Pace 4; Sammut 3; Zammit 2; Den Ouden, Briffa. Red cards - G. Agius (vs Sliema), Priso (vs Ħamrun Spartans).
Next fixtures
Saturday (National Stadium): 2 p.m. Qormi vs Birkirkara; 4 p.m. Valletta vs Hibs.
Sunday (Hibs Stadium): 2 p.m. Ħamrun Spartans vs Floriana; 4 p.m. Tarxien Rainbows vs Sliema Wanderers.