Tarxien Rainbows won the much awaited match against Senglea repeating the first score, thus making a double.

The match was decided by a John Paul Muscat strike on the hour, his first goal for Tarxien since moving on loan from Mqabba in the January transfer window.

This player surely gave an added boost to an already strong outfit. The match never reached high standards and much more was expected from both sides. But both sides’ performance was somewhat hindered by the price at stake.

For Tarxien this win now puts them in pole position for a Premier berth, even though Senglea, Mosta and Qormi are still in the hunt. Senglea can surely make up in the coming matches and hope to recover striker Kenneth Abela who is an asset for them.

The first half was a rather disappointing with both sides unable to create good scoring opportunities. Senglea had a slight edge over their opponents in midfield, with Grech, Cuschieri and Bonello doing better work than their counterparts.

Both sides had similar setups, with five midfielders and two strikers – Ewurun and Abela on one side and John Paul Muscat and Matthew Borg on the other.

The first attempt of the match came form a Clint Caruana freekick that was well saved by Curmi. On 30 minutes Senglea had another opportunity but Simon Aquilina headed well over the bar.

In their only real danger Tarxien almost took the lead when Decesare headed down towards John Paul Muscat who squeezed the ball past goalkeeper George Attard, but defender Aquilina cleared the danger.

At the start of the second half Tarxien had to substitute their goalkeeper Cumi with reserve goalkeeper Sean Cini, and minutes later Angus Buhagiar was introduced for a disappointing Matthew Borg.

On 49 minutes Essien Mbong made his way forward with a surging run before passing towards John Paul Muscat who shot over the bar.

On 57 minutes Senglea were unlucky when Kenneth Abela received a long ball from defence and lobbed over goalkeeper Cini, with the ball slamming against the crossbar. Kenneth Abela limped off after effort to be substituted by Kevin Mifsud.

Two minutes later Tarxien forged ahead. Angus Buhagiar passed to John Paul Muscat who dribbled past a defender before beating Attard with an angled shot.

Tarxien were now in the driving seat and played some good football with John Paul Muscat very menacing. However Senglea pushed their men forward as they hammered their opponents in their penalty area.

On 73 minutes Ewurun missed the best chance when he tried to beat Cini from close range but hesitated and Cini blocked the danger.

Kevin Mifsud tried his luck from the edge of the area but Cini saved well, and Ewurun had another effort from an acute angle again saved by Cini.

In the dying minutes Senglea continued to push forward but substitute goalkeeper Cini was never really under threat.

On the other end Tarxien could have wrapped the match with the second goal as Senglea left gaping holes at the back in their desperate efforts to save the match. John Paul Muscat missed a good chance near the end when John Paul Muscat’s point blank shot was blocked by goalkeeper Attard.