What a tense Sunday it was as the three matches involving the clubs battling for a Top Six berth (final two places) were played. These were played at the same time as well but at a different venue. And there was a lot of drama near the end of the Hamrun-Vittoriosa and Qormi-Marsaxlokk matches as Hamrun just made it and Marsaxlokk survived for a Championship Pool berth thanks to a last gasp equaliser.

Henry Brincat analyses the situation before the start of the Second Phase where one can expect a battle royale, not for the title, which, at present, seems to be already safe in City’s hands, but for the second and third places as the clubs now look ahead towards winning a berth in next season’s Europa League.

The first phase is over and the placings are now known, especially those in connection with the final two berths in the Championship Pool and the Relegation Pool.

In the Championship Pool, Valletta beat their eternal rivals Floriana 2-0 just after Tarxien and Birkirkara played out a goalless draw. That meant that Valletta will start the Second Phase on 22 points, seven ahead of second placed Tarxien and eight in front of Floriana and Birkirkara. Moreover, Marsaxlokk and Hamrun will start on 12 points.

In the Relegation Pool, it will be Sliema and Qormi joining Hibernians and Vittoriosa in the battle against the Drop. Here Sliema and Qormi will start on 11 points. Hibernians are to start on eight points, while Vittoriosa Stars will have six points.

As it is, all teams have gained with the exception of Valletta. Instead they have seen all the others in the Championship Pool gaining ground on them after having gone through such a splendid first phase in which not only they remained unbeaten, but also finished with a healthy 15-point lead over second placed Tarxien Rainbows.

This, I believe, is not fair. Admittedly, there will be a lot more interest in the proceedings, but no team should be made to gain at the expense of the top club as is the case with such a system. I have been harping on this discrepancy for several years now – since the start of the Premier League – so far to no avail. And this is because the clubs themselves, despite several complaints, have again voted to retain such a format (division of points after the First Phase) even next year, when the competition will be played between 12 and not 10 teams.

The Valletta-Floriana derby and the Tarxien-Birkirkara clashes attracted one of the biggest – possibly the biggest – crowd to Ta’ Qali so far this season. Well over 5,000 paid their way into the National Stadium for these two matches.

The citizens maintained their unbeaten record with a steady, though not so polished performance against their arch rivals.

In this match, they confirmed once again that they have no equals this season as Floriana, despite a gritty performance, never came close to saving the match after Denni Rocha Dos Santos gave Valletta the lead midway through the first half.

After that goal, Valletta had the game in hand even if they did not dominate their rivals.

Floriana, in fact, seemed to have given as much as they received, but they were found wanting in attack. And even when they were close to scoring, there was a superb Andrew Hogg to thwart Draganovic from giving the Greens the lead.

After this defeat, Floriana certainly have to think otherwise about their intentions for the rest of this season. Their title aspirations may be over but they will certainly have to look ahead with optimism as they are still well in contention for second or third place not to mention the FA Trophy.

They are awaiting eagerly the return from injury of top striker Daniel Nwoke – they have certainly missed his goal-scoring talents in the last few matches.

Tarxien and Birkirkara fought out a goalless draw that will see the two sides starting very close to each other in the Second Phase.

Their intentions will possibly now be the same as those of Floriana, provided that Valletta do not falter.

The Stripes once again failed to score despite the presence of newcomer Ibrahim Babatunde among their ranks.

They created a lot more than their opponents, but they failed to score on at least one occasion.

Tarxien saved their historic second place thanks to the heroics of goalkeeper Cassar. At least on two occasions, it was he who saved the side from a downfall.

In Sunday’s matches, Sliema were perhaps the most impressive team of them all. They beat a poor Hibernians side to the tune of four goals to nil – and it could have been a much heavier defeat for the Paolites had the Blues not missed so many chances.

But it was too late for the Wanderers, even if some 10 minutes from the end, they seemed to be on their way to playing Championship Pool football with the results of the Qormi and Hamrun matches against Marsaxlokk and Vittoriosa respectively being in their favour at that moment.

The Blues must have played their best match of the season as they did practically what they wanted, especially in the first half.

For the Paolites, it was another huge disappointment, confirming their disastrous season. And if they do not improve, they will face a hard time in the Relegation Pool. Bottom placed Vittoriosa are just two points adrift and there are still two direct clashes to be played, not forgetting that in the First Phase, the Stars won both matches against the Paolites.

The Stars once again proved that they are tough nuts to crack for anyone, but unfortunately, once again, they missed the points in the final moments. That is what happened against the Spartans on Sunday.

That has been their main fault so far this season and that is why they won just a few points. They should have at least two or three more points to their tally.

The keenest match was that between Marsaxlokk and Qormi. With just a few injury time minutes remaining, Qormi took a 2-1 lead and seemed on course for a decider against the same opponents to determine the final berth in the Top Six.

Yet, it was not over as hardly a minute later, Marsaxlokk found that extra energy to score an equaliser which sent them into Heaven and condemned the Yellow Blacks to the Relegation Pool

Best player

Denni Rocha dos Santos

(Valletta FC)

The Valletta FC midfielder/striker is my pick this weekend after a fine performance against Floriana on Saturday.

His repertoire included a brilliant first goal which gave Valletta the lead, that great header which hit the crossbar in the second half and the innumerable passes to his team-mates from one side to the other of the field.

Denni had already been a star in Tarxien’s line up last season. Since joining Valletta, he has risen in stature and has given more than a valid contribution to the Citizens’ impressive unbeaten run in the First Phase.

Top scorers

14 goals T. Scerri (Valletta)

11 goals G. Spiteri (Hamrun S.)

9 goals A. Effiong (Marsaxlokk), D. Rocha dos Santos (Valletta)

7 goals C. Dos Santos Rodrigues (Tarxien R.)

6 goals I. Woods (Floriana), E. Lattes (Birkirkara), A. Ewurum (Vittoriosa S.), D. Nwoke (Floriana), D. Mariano Bueno (Tarxien R.), Jackson Lima (Sliema W.), JP Mifsud Triganza (Sliema W.)