Champions Rabat Depiro edged ahead in the championship race when on Sunday they swept aside the challenge from Britannia Tours WH 5-1 as their closest rivals, Sliema Hs., played out a 1-1 draw against The Hunters’ Tower Rest.

On Sunday the second round will come to an end with two intriguing games. At 9am The Hunters’ Tower Rest will have what most probably will be their last chance to get onto the title race act when they face Rabat. Previous meetings this season do not augur well for Young Stars as Rabat have beaten them 4-1 in the Super Cup final and 3-1 in the first round of the league. Anything short of victory will probably mean they would have to abandon any hopes they may have of a championship victory.

At 11am second placed Sliema Hs take Poiatti Qormi in a game they will certainly want to win to maintain the pressure on the leaders. The sides have met twice this year with Qormi winning 4-2 in the Challenge Cup and Sliema 1-0 in the League.

On Sunday Sliema dropped two points behind Rabat when they drew 1-1 with The Hunters Tower Rest.

Both sides needed the three points and at the end of the day it was Rabat who obviously benefited from this draw. After some initial spurring it was Sliema who took the lead when Liam Pace fired into the corner after being put through by Ray Bezzina.

Young Stars responded with their typical passing game as they tried to set up their short corner set-pieces. Sliema seemed content to concede possession and respond with fast breaks. They were defending well on short corners until the half hour.

From a short corner Camilleri’s first flick at goal was cleared off the line but the Sliema defence failed to clear the danger, the ball was swept back across the dee and David Evans volleyed in the equaliser. Before the half ended Young Stars goalkeeper Mizzi saved off Imbroll and Bezzina while at the other end Bonello failed to reach a good cross from Agius Darmanin.

The second half Sliema had a slight edge although the game could have gone either way. After 12 minutes Sliema captain Caruana Smith flicked high from a short corner set piece.

Young Stars responded with two short corners of their own with Agius Darmanin hitting high and the second action simply fizzling out. In the 21st minute Sliema almost forged ahead but Pace’s hit from the edge of the dee hit the upright.

Mallia saved a flick from David Evans (YS), and on the half hour the same player hit wide following a fast break. The final chance fell to Sliema but Mizzi saved Pace’s flick.

In the first game of the day Rabat Depiro had little problems in sweeping aside the challenge from Britannia Tours WH.

Fielding a decimated formation, Britannia Tours could not match the speed and power of the reigning champions.

The first half was a monologue of Rabat actions from start to finish. Three early short corners failed to produce any results and after 11 minutes Galea had to produce a double save off Jason Vella. On 15 minutes Galea had to stop a hit from Radojevic following a short corner.

After 19 minutes Rabat opened the score when Josef Antonelli closed a well worked out a move between Kevin Micallef and Vella. Five minutes later and the score was 2-0 as Radojevic fired in from the top of the dee.

At this stage there was only one team on the field and Galea was forced into blocking a powerful Shawn Falzon hit. Three consecutive short corners saw Galea save three times off Radojevic as the first half ended with Galea the protagonist for his side.

A short corner for White Hart after four minutes of the second half saw Simon Agius’s hit almost deflected past Azzopardi by Borg Costanzi. After 11 minutes Britannia Tours pulled a goal back as Carl Tua ran at the Rabat defence and then set up Busuttil Leaver to place in a empty net. This goal, however, seemed to wake Rabat from their lethargy and they were soon picking up their game again. Two short corners failed to produce results but Rabat were 3-1 up in the 16th minute when Vella received from Josef Antonelli and beat Galea.

White Hart went close again following a move between Borg Costanzi and Tua but in the final minutes it was all Rabat and they rounded off the score first through Kevin Micallef and then Robert Aquilina.