Rabat close gap as rivals share points

A full programme of matches last weekend saw Punch & Judy Rabat gaining two points over rivals Hunter's Tower YS and Sliema Hs.

Rabat disposed of Pasta Poiatti Qormi 4-1 while the direct clash between Young Stars and Sliema once again ended in a scoreless draw.

On Saturday, The George Pub returned to victory when they came from a goal down to beat Celtics YS 2-1. The George Pub were coming from a 7-1 drubbing at the hands of Rabat and the first half of this game did not augur well when they fell behind to a Chris Bugeja goal.

They did, however, react well and overturned the result through second-half goals from Kevin Filletti and David Agius.

Young Stars will be disappointed not to have taken full points from Sunday's game as they were facing a Sliema side with a makeshift midfield.

The Sliema defence, however, was in good form and it seems that Caruana Smith has found the right combination at the back. Hunter's Tower dominance in terms of possession was more than obvious and this was reflected in the 11 short corners they had.

On the day, however, they could not get their act together with their normally reliable setpieces.

Rabat had a polished display to sweep aside the challenge from Pasta Poiatti. As they did against Pembroke, Rabat were quickly off the blocks and raced into a two-goal lead inside 12 minutes.

League top scorer Josef Antonelli, back from a one-match suspension, was on hand to conclude two similar short corner moves. These two goals killed off any aspirations Qormi, without skipper Reuben Chircop, might have had of taking something from the game.

It was the champions who increased the score in the second half, first through Jonathan Seychell and then thanks to a penalty stroke converted by James Azzopardi.

Pasta Poiatti got their consolation goal in the final minutes from a short corner move. Bianchi's first shot on goal was blocked but Gareth Dimech followed up well to score.

Sunday's matches: 9 a.m. Sliema vs Celtics; 11 a.m. Hunter's Tower vs George Pub.