The battle for the runner up spot of the Blue Label National League remained undecided even after the last matches of the League and will now have to be resolved by a play-off. Sliema Hs had to battle hard to get the better of a resilient and determined Poiatti side while The Hunters’ Tower inflicted the first defeat of the season on Rabat Depiro.

Sliema Hs and The Hunters’ Tower will now play a decider on Sunday at 9am.

In Sunday’s first game Sliema Hs beat Poiatti Qormi by two goals to nil.

After a bright start by Poiatti Qormi, it was Sliema who almost drew first blood when following a fast break Pace was upended by the Qormi goalkeeper but from the resultant penalty stroke Shawn Mifsud saw his flick saved by Chirop.

Qormi responded with three consecutive short corners the last one of which saw Sliema goalkeeper save well off Frank Bugeja. At the other end Simon Baldacchino picked up a poor clearance but his final hit went just wide.

For Qormi, Magri was a constant headache to Sliema who were having problems dealing with his runs from midfield. In the final minutes of the half both goalkeepers were called into action with Qormi’s Chircop saving off Mifsud and Sliema‘s Mallia saving from Magri.

The second half started with a chance for Poiatti Qormi with Rudolph Camilleri not capitalizing on a good pass from Tanti.

Sliema then again went close with Baldacchino first hitting the post and the second attempt being cleared off the line by Chircop.

At this point Sliema were applying good pressure which however failed to produce a goal. Midway through the half it was Poiatti’s turn to push forward aided by the fact that Sliema were down to nine men following the temporary suspension of veterans Bezzina and Cachia.

The reshuffled Sliema team held out with Mallia producing an excellent save off a Magri attempt, and when the teams were restored to parity Sliema tipped the game in their favour.

Ten minutes from time Michael Caruana Smith, following a run from midfield, picked up Baldacchino in the dee and his well placed shot beat Chircop. Five minutes later the same Baldacchino produced a good run down the wing and his cross found an unmarked Mifsud who had no difficult in flicking past Chircop.

With Sliema having won their game, The Hunters’ Tower were faced with the task of having to become the first team to beat Rabat Depiro for the first time in order to retain any hope of taking the runner up spot.

Their determination to do so was evident from early on and after six minutes they took the lead. Ivan Magri produced a top class run down the wing that left the Rabat defence all over the place and his cross picked out Ryan Gatt who finished neatly past Azzopardi.

A minute later they almost doubled but the Rabat goalkeeper saved well off Evans. After this early flurry the game balanced out as Rabat started to produce a reaction. Their reaction was finally rewarded when they equalised after 23 minutes through Josef Antonelli following a good cross from Jeffrey Aquilina.

The second half again saw The Hunters’ Tower come out strongly. After three minutes they almost produced a replica of their goal but this time Gatt hit wide.

On 12 minutes Charles Micallef hit wide but a minute later The Hunters’ Tower were awarded a stroke following a foul on their best player, Ivan Magro. Up stepped Micallef and his flick gave no chance to Azzopardi.

The Hunters’ Tower remained the better side with Magro and Evans both going close but five minutes from time their efforts seemed destined to failure when following a short corner move Rabat were awarded a penalty stroke.

James Azzopardi stepped up but Waylin Abdilla, standing in for regular goalkeeper Mizzi, saved his flick and gave his team a chance to play off for the second spot in the National League.

The defeat certainly did not dampen Rabat’s post match celebrations after they were awarded the Championship trophy by HAM President Chris Busutill Leaver.

Besides the play off for second place, Sunday will also see the start of the KO competition with champions Rabat facing league wooden spoonists Britannia Tours WH.