It was another important weekend for most of the Premier clubs as the top clash between Valletta and Sliema ended in a 2-2 draw. The champions, Marsaxlokk, took the opportunity to secure the three points against bottom-placed Mqabba on Sunday and move to just within a point of the league leaders.

Sliema remain in third place, four points behind Valletta and now one point ahead of Floriana who, however, have a game in hand.

The forthcoming programme, on 9 and 10 February, will possibly give a clear indication of who will play in the Championship Pool and in the Relegation Pool, even if it seems as if the final decision will be left for the final day of the first phase.

A glance at the standings shows that the battle for a final place among the Top Six – or else a Relegation Pool place – is now restricted to just four clubs. With Marsaxlokk, Sliema and Floriana in an unassailable position by Msida who still have a very slim chance of making it to the Top Six.

However, they have to win all their remaining clashes and then the results of the other clubs involved will have to go also in their favour, something which I cannot see happening.

As it is at present, Hibernians, with just two games remaining, have 24 points, while Birkirkara and Hamrun are just one point behind them, but having played one match fewer. Msida, with a nine-point potential, are way back on 15 points.

In the forthcoming programme, the clash between Birkirkara and Hamrun on Saturday 9 February, will certainly be very important for either side.

The Stripes missed a good chance of almost making sure of a Top Six place after being held to a goalless draw by Msida on Saturday.

In that match, they failed to take advantage of the territorial superiority they enjoyed and failed to take their chances, confirming, if there was any need, that they lack fire power up front. The arrival of Sylla has, so far, failed to deliver the desired goods, while Michael Galea seemed to be way off his best after having been out of action for several weeks.

Of great consolation to the Stripes was the return of former skipper Antoine Zahra. He had been out of action for two years through injury. With strength and determination, he is now back. From this column, I wish him sincerely a welcome return to local football.

This failure to score the goals that matter has kept the Stripes way back from the top places and now they are forced to beat Hamrun Spartans – and possibly Valletta or Floriana – to keep their hopes alive. Their remaining programme, in fact, also includes matches against Valletta and Floriana and therefore, it will not be easy for them, especially if they fail to beat the Spartans.

It became even more complicated for the Stripes after Hibernians, as expected, beat Pieta Hotspurs on Sunday afternoon. This victory enabled the Paolites to overtake Birkirkara in the standings and it now seems quite possible for the Paolites to avoid the Relegation Pool with bottom placed Mqabba and Hamrun being their opponents in their remaining matches. Only that last match against Hamrun seems to be a sort of threat for the Paolites, although if they beat Mqabba, they might need only to draw against Hamrun to make sure of their Top Six berth.

The Paolites however, have to lift their performance in their remaining two matches, for they might still get involved heavily in a possible last, decisive, clash against Hamrun. On Sunday they also looked like lacking fire power up front and they were simply struggling against a poor Pieta Hotspurs team, which already seems resigned to its fate.

On Saturday, the top clash between Valletta and Sliema produced four goals – two of them from penalties, both scored by Ivan Woods for Sliema.

It was a match which appeared to be going Sliema’s way. In the first half, the Blues took the lead but Valletta scored a last-gasp first half equaliser. Then it happened all over again in the second half as Sliema again took the lead from another penalty and Valletta equalised a second time, just a minute from the end of normal time.

The match never reached great heights but, to be fair, it was entertaining especially in the second half when it became more lively. The two sides concentrated more on defence, especially in the first half, and this was the main reason for the lack of excitement in that part of the match, until the goals arrived.

In my opinion, in the Championship Pool, it will be as close as ever. There is little or no difference at all between these two teams – certainly two of the best equipped outfits – and I believe their main challengers will be Marsaxlokk, who registered another easy victory on Sunday as they overcame a poor Mqabba side by two goals to nil.

Marsaxlokk just eased around their opponents in this match. They dominated from start to finish and could have run a tennis score had they taken most of the several chances which they created throughout the 90 minutes.

This victory has pushed the champions to within a point of leaders Valletta and this confirms that we will be in for a most interesting start to the second phase of the competition.

Player of the week

Ivan Woods (Sliema W.)

The Sliema and Malta striker Ivan Woods is my pick this week after an excellent performance against Valletta which confirmed he is again back to his best form.

It was not just the two goals he scored – two penalty conversions. In fact, Woods was seen working hard up in front and was a constant headache to the Valletta defence as he roamed from one side to the other of the City area, creating a good number of anxious moments for the City defence.

It was encouraging for national coach Dusan Fitzel to see Woods playing so confidenly on the eve of the forthcoming international tournament.

The top scorers

13 goals - Sebastian Monesterolo (Valletta)

8 - Gaetan Spiteri (Hamrun), Ian Zammit (Valletta)

7 - Etienne Barbara (Sliema W.), Ryan Darmanin (Floriana), Malcolm Licari (Marsaxlokk), I. Woods (Sliema W.), J. Alcorse (Marsaxlokk)

6 - Njongo Priso (Msida SJ), Marcelo Periera (Mqabba), Terence Scerri (Hibs), Stefan Sultana (Hamrun S.), Mark Barbara (Marsaxlokk)

5 - Alfred Effiong (Hamrun S.), Pedro dos Santos Calcado (Msida SJ), Edward Herrera (Pieta H.), A. Cohen (Hibs)

4 - A. Mifsud (Hibs), Alexsander Madzar (M’Xlokk), Manolito Micallef (Floriana), Cleaven Frendo, R. Hartvig (B’Kara)

Next programme

Saturday 9 February

(at Ta’ Qali Stadium)

2pm Birkirkara-Hamrun S.

4pm Marsaxlokk-Sliema W.

Sunday 10 February

(at Victor Tedesco Stadium)

1.30pm Floriana-Msida SJ

3.30pm Pieta H.-Mqabba