Depiro brushed aside St Andrews in their quest to remain at the top of the standings. It was also their third seasonal victory over the same opponents.

The Saints started falling behind from the first minutes of play and even though the young Depiro bench players had more playing time St Andrews were always under pressure and fighting an uphill battle.

The Saints had missing players in Nadia Cassar and Renette Magro. Depiro were without Greta Zarb but Rachel Sammut returned after missing a total of four matches.

Depiro were already 7-0 ahead just past the opening minute with a sarah Pace triple. Madeleine De Martino pulled back two hoops but in between Pace had netted her second trey. Her side then went on a session ending 10-2 run for a solid advantage.

In the second period the Depiro bench players made their way on court and the points dwindled a little for them. St Andrews put in a Josette Calleja triple and Tina De Martino made a couple of lay ups and it was left to Kaila Agius to hoist up Depiro’s tally. The honours were even but at the interval it was still Depiro at 31-17.

After the break, the Saints were hit badly as Antoinette Borg netted a personal run which continued to grow with other players joining in. An 18-0 run went on till late in the session when St Andrews managed to put in their share though they had fallen way behind to a 23-53 score.

Justine Mangion made a number of free shots for the Saints in the last period with Pace in a reply with her third triple for Depiro. Calleja kept on the Saints’ points with Depiro content with their young players’ involvement.

St. Andrews: 2 M. Caruana, R. De Martino, 15 J. Calleja, K. Portelli, 10 J. Mangion, 5 T. De Martino, 7 M. De Martino

Depiro: 17 S. Pace, J. Xuereb, 2 A. Mifsud, 9 M. Bonett, 2 F. Bianco, 1 J. Busuttil Gaerty, 13 A. Borg, 2 C. Sammut, 4 E. Vella, 4 S. Micallef, 13 K. Agius

Referees: E. Mangani, C. Terribile