Qormi marched relentlessly on in the seventh round as they were the only side of the top three to gain maximum points. With Hibernians faltering against Floriana on Saturday and with Valletta being held to a draw yesterday by Tarxien Rainbows, Qormi have now opened a two-point lead at the top of the standings.

Qormi confirmed their early season promise with a good a 2-0 win over Hamrun Spartans in Sunday's only match.

Jesmond Zerafa's side is certainly enjoying its glorious moment at the top of the standings after the opening seven matches.

Qormi never imagined at the start of the season that they would be occupying such an exalted position midway through the first round, but such a skilful striker as Camilo Da Silva has changed the side from a mis-table one to a top-of-the-table side.

The Brazilian was not in great form in this match, but he still contributed to his side's win with a spectacular goal - the second - which killed all Hamrun's hopes of earning a positive result.

Camilo, as he is more commonly known, was subdued by Hamrun's defence which, however, showed other deficiencies as the side succumbed to their first defeat after four consecutive wins.

The Spartans were also devoid of ideas, especially during their pressure at the start of the second half when they were in search of an equaliser. All the corners that came their way produced nothing in terms of goals as Qormi defended well with Wellman and Dos Santos in command.

Yesterday Valletta seemed to be on the way to joining Qormi when at the end of the first half, they were leading Tarxien 2-0, but the Rainbows came back strongly in the second half to earn a merited point.

The citizens have now collected just one point from their last two matches and look to be far away from the form that made them firm favourites at the start of the season.

More mediocre matches as that of yesterday and Ton Caanen's side will drop down further places in the standings.

Tarxien obtained a deserved as well as a precious point. But they certainly did not steal anything. Despite being 2-0 in arrears at the start of the second half, they had enough character to fight back and score two goals to stun the citizens.

Floriana produced one of the biggest surprises of the season so far as they obtained an impressive 3-2 win over the champions, Hibernians, on Saturday.

The Greens surprised the Paolites in the first half when they took a deserved 3-1 lead.

Irish coach Roddy Collins must have been the happiest man in Malta. His side appeared to be heading for a comfortable win as they ably controlled the Hibs' poor reaction in the second half which only produced an added injury time goal to make the result more respectable.

For the Paolites, this was a big setback as they missed a clear chance of moving to the top - Qormi still had to play the day after.

As for Floriana, it was only a confirmation that the side is showing progress, obtaining a second consecutive win after having beaten another title contender - Birkirkara - in their previous match.

Birkirkara's victory over Sliema Wanderers on Monday evening was, perhaps, the most emphatic win registered in this round.

Considering the way the Stripes annihilated the Blues, one must come to the conclusion that Paul Zammit's side not only managed to conclude a negative trend which saw them claiming just one point from matches against Hibs (2-2) and Floriana (0-1) but also enabled them to maintain their challenge at the top as they kept the pace with the leage leaders.

Zammit's side was certainly impressive and one could not that even before they opened the scoring, they had been the better side on the field of play.

True, had Mifsud Triganza not missed a clear chance when it was still 0-0, it might have been another story, but the fact remains that Sliema were a rather poor lot, especially in defence which conceded the three goals in just four deadly minutes.

Stephen Azzopardi has a tough task in trying to rebuild the morale of his players after this stunning defeat. One expected something better from a team which possesses a good number of talented players. At least, I expected them to make a stronger reaction in the second half. Instead they never really came close to scoring - not even once - and it was the Stripes who missed a couple of chances which could have earned them a bigger win.

On Saturday, Msida St Joseph earned their first victory of the season which enabled them to move away from the bottom of the standings. They have now handed the wooden spoon to their defeated opponents Dingli Swallows.

The Saints did well to turn victory into defeat as it was Dingli who took the lead in the first half only for Msida to come back strongly in the second half to score twice in the last 18 minutes.



Best player

Trevor Cilia (Birkirkara)

The former Floriana player must have played his best since joining the Stripes last season.

It was what I may describe as a very colourful performance by the flank player. He not only opened the scoring with a magnificent grounder and supplied the cross from which Michael Galea headed Birkirkara into a 2-0 lead.

But Cilia also proved to be a continuous menace to the Sliema defence as his direct opponent Ian Azzopardi may testify.

If he maintains such form I am sure he will earn a

national team call in the near future.



The scorers

9 goals - Camilo Da Silva (Qormi)

5 goals - Joseph Okonkwo (Dingli), Terence Scerri (Valletta), Anderson Mendes Ribeiro (Tarxien R)

4 goals - Olegs Malasenoks (Hibs), Sylvano Comvalius (Birkirkara)

3 goals - Michael Galea (Birkirkara), , Denni Rocha dos Santos (Tarixen R.), Gaetan Spiteri (Hamrun S.), J.P Mifsud Triganza (Sliema W.)