With the question of the League title decided last week, the only matter still to be settled in the hockey league is who will take second place and following Sunday’s result The Hunters’ Tower Rest have taken a slight advantage.
With their 1-0 victory over Poiatti Qormi, Young Stars not only condemned their rivals to fourth place but also maintained their two-point lead over Sliema Hs who beat White Hart 2-0 in the second game. Young Stars have now concluded their league commitments but will be anxious spectators on Sunday when Sliema take on Rabat in their last game of the League. A victory for Sliema will see them leapfrog over Young Stars and snatch the runner-up spot.
On Sunday Poiatti got of to a bad start and were duly punished by Edward Hughes who scored what was to be the eventual winner. In the second half Poiatti improved somewhat and created a number of good chances but on the day they were second best to Young Stars and it is little consolation that they improved their league position by one place from last year.
Two goals, one in each half, were enough for Sliema Hs to get the better of White Hart and keep their hopes of finishing runners up alive. After barely two minutes their German striker Frithjof Bjorn Ulf Langelotz opened the score, firing in from close range after being set up by Pace. Despite this early advantage Sliema never really killed the game and White Hart shared the exchanges all the way. Even after Steve Cachia doubled in the second half White Hart did their best but their lack of punch up front was more then evident and they never really troubled the tightest defence in the league.
Next Sunday the National League will come to an end. At 9.00am Rabat will face Sliema Hs while the last game will be at 11.00 between White Hart and Pasta Poiatti. The League competition will be followed by the Knock-Out, the draws of which were held on Sunday.
Sliema Hs and White Hart will met once again in the Preliminary Round (Sunday 1May at 10.00am) with the winner facing Rabat in the semi-finals. The second semi-final will be between Poiatti Qormi and The Hunters’ Tower Rest. The semi-finals will be played on the 8 May.