It was a very fruitful weekend for champions and runaway league leaders Sliema Wanderers as they continued with their triumphant march at the top of the standings.

Not only, but their immediate followers Hibernians, stumbled against Valletta, allowing the Wanderers to open a six point lead over the Paolites and eight over third placed Birkirkara.

The Stripes just managed to beat Hamrun Spartans with a last gasp winner but they must consider themselves lucky to have taken all the points after an unimpressive performance.

Msida St Joseph returned to winning form as they overcame Pieta Hotspurs to move further up the table. They are now occupying fifth place.

The weekend, however, belonged to Sliema. They were facing Marsaxlokk and had to play the second half with just 10 men after the dismissal of Stefan Giglio just before the end of the first.

They had taken a first half lead, but in ten men, they were forced to defend against Marsaxlokk’s assault in the second half. The southern seasiders also managed to equalise and seemed to be on track to inflict the first defeat on Sliema this season or, at least, force them to a draw.

But the Blues hit back in their counter-attacks which had the Marsaxlokk defence at sixes and sevens. It was from one of them that they scored the winner nine minutes from time.

It was the second time in eight days that Sliema had won full points with goals in the final moments. Last week they had turned a 1-0 deficit against Msida into a 2-1 win with two goals in the final seven minutes.

But after all, that is why the Wanderers are considered to be the best outfit on the island at present. And there should no doubt about that.

Marsaxlokk, for whom coach Atanas Marinov was missing on the bench (earlier in the week, the club had announced the arrival of Ray ‘Zazu’ Farrugia as new technical adviser) once again failed in their mission and even failed to take advantage of a situation which was absolutely in their favour in the second half. In fact, despite seeing much more of the ball, they rarely were allowed to have a glimpse at goal as Brian Said, Darren Debono and Mauro DiLello were at their best.

This goes on to show that the Marsaxlokk youngsters still need to mature before they can be considered serious challengers for any honour.

On Sunday, Hibernians were simply pitiful as they were brushed aside by a sprightly Valletta side which has now moved up to sixth place.

The Citizens, despite still being without the injured Gilbert Agius and Ian Zammit, were more adventurous and much more dangerous in front of goal than the disorganised Paolites.

Robert Gatt’s boys were not even a shadow of the team that had outplayed Birkirkara to the tune of 5-2 the previous week and were made to play second fiddle by the more determined Citizens.

It is true they also had Mintoff, Scerri and Failla missing, but this is no good an excuse for such a poor and shabby performance.

On such form, Hibernians can never expect to challenge Sliema for the title. And this also applies to Birkirkara, currently in third place.

The Stripes, however, managed to collect the three points from their match against Hamrun Spartans, but only just.

Stephen Azzopardi’s boys were also very unimpressive on Saturday and were lucky to get away with all the three points.

After the 5-2 debacle against Hibernians the previous week, they were expected to show more determination to get back on the winning trail.

Yet, they seemed to be a demoralised lot (Azzopardi was not on the bench as he was suspended), and they had to wait till the very end to score their winner.

Hamrun also had their coach Michael Degiorgio suspended, but their unheralded team showed much more motivation than the Stripes. And they were very unlucky not to have gone home with at least a point from this encounter.

The Spartans had their two-match winning run halted, but their performance on Saturday confirmed their recent improvement and it will not be long before they move further up the table, if they retain the present form and enthusiasm.

Another team bubbling with enthusiasm at present is Msida St Joseph whose coach, Bulgarian Todor Raykov, and players, are performing wonders.

They beat Pieta Hotspurs with a certain amount of ease on Sunday, just a week after having gone so close to upsetting Sliema’s applecart.

There is no doubt they are the revelation side this season and, with players like Babatunde and Nwoke up front, and Theuma and Carabott at the back, I am sure they will give any other team in the competition a good run for their money.

As for Pieta, it was another miserable afternoon as they were overpowered by a superior side. Not only the defeat meant that they had dropped to seventh place in the standings, but they also had to finish the match in nine men after the red cards shown to Spiteri and Camenzuli.

After a bright start to the season, Georgi Deanov’s side is fading away and unless they pull their socks up, they will soon find themselves in troubled waters.

There will be no Premier League matches this weekend as Malta will be playing against Bulgaria in the final World Cup Group 8 qualifier at Ta’ Qali next Wednesday. The League resumes on 15 October.

Player of the week

Ibrahim Babatunde (Msida SJ)

Msida striker Ibrahim Babatunde is my pick this week after yet another impressive display, this time against Pieta Hotspurs.

The Nigerian striker is fast becoming one of the most lethal foreign strikers on the island and, together with Daniel Nwoke, they have formed one of the most feared striking combinations in the Premier League.

On Sunday, Babatunde again caused havoc in the opposing defence. He is gifted with a good sprint and good dribbling, but he can also score goals, apart from missing some good chances as well.

Babatunde is certainly one of Msida’s great assets and it is mainly thanks to him that the club is passing through such a good patch this season.

The top scorers

7 – D. Doncic (Sliema).

6 – D. Bogdanovic (Sliema), D. Nwoke (Msida).

5 – C. Frendo (Marsaxlokk).

4 – A. Cohen (Hibernians), M. Deanov (Pieta), M. Galea (Birkirkara), I. Woods (Sliema), G. Spiteri (Hamrun).

3 – C. Sciuto (Pieta), I. Zammit (Valletta), J. Brincat (Sliema), T. Scerri, D. Camilleri (Hibernians), U. Nwoko, I. Chibueze (Mosta), M. Calascione, A. Zahra (Birkirkara), J. Babatunde, D. Theuma (Msida).

2 – S. Giglio, (Sliema), G. Mallia, R. Briffa, (Birkirkara), M. Licari, A. Schembri, S. Bajada (Marsaxlokk), B. Nisevic (Valletta), I. Bilocca, (Mosta), I. Ciantar, A. Mifsud (Floriana), R. Bajada (Msida), E. Mbong (Hibernians), M. Okoro, C. Nkankwo (Hamrun S.).

Next matches

(all at Ta’ Qali)

Saturday 15 October

3pm Mosta-Birkirkara

5pm Hibernians-Msida SJ

Sunday 16 October

3pm Pieta H.-Marsaxlokk

5pm Sliema W.-Floriana

Monday 17 October

7pm, Hamrun S.-Valletta