Valletta extended their Premier League lead to 12 points at the weekend as Floriana only managed a draw against Marsaxlokk after Valletta had beaten Hamrun 5-0 on Friday evening. At the other end of the standings, Qormi assured themselves of at least another season among the elite after drawing with relegated Vittoriosa Stars, but the battle for the runners-up spot continues unabated though Tarxien now seem to be almost completely out of the running, leaving three clubs fighting it out between them.

Henry Brincat analyses the situation after a weekend which produced 18 goals.

Valletta are now very close to clinching their 20th title in their glorious history. They need just one point from their remaining four matches to be mathematically sure and that could come about next Sunday when they face Marsaxlokk.

Not that there was any doubt as to where the title was going this season. From the very start, I have been saying that Valletta have no equals and even if on many occasions, they failed to leave a good impression, they were still superior to all other opposition.

In my opinion, from the second round of the first phase onwards, they did not have any real challengers for the title. And they simply kept marching on triumphantly. Not only did they show superiority by remaining unbeaten against their rivals, but they also saw their immediate chasers losing points between themselves or against teams below them in the standings.

On Friday, the victory was just a formality for the citizens as they swept past a Hamrun Spartans side which now has nothing more to fight for this season.

The most interesting clash of the weekend turned out to be the relegation clash between Qormi and Vittoriosa Stars.

Before the match, Qormi were leading the Stars by five points with just two matches to go. That made it a must for the Stars to win the clash if they wanted to keep their hopes of avoiding relegation alive.

And it seemed as if they were on the way to that win when early in the second half they struck twice in quick succession to take what seemed to be a comfortable 2-0 lead.

Qormi seemed resigned to their fate of leaving everything hinging on their final encounter, but it was not to be as they managed to find enough energy to get back on level terms in the final 10 minutes.

And it was not all over as the Stars were still presented with a golden opportunity to take away the three points – they were awarded a penalty in added injury time. But Santos missed it and the Stars were condemned to playing first division football next season.

From this column, I wish them a speedy return to the Premier League.

In the other relegation pool match between Sliema and Hibernians, neither side had any interest in the proceedings, but the match produced five goals in a 3-2 victory for the Wanderers – two of three goals arrived from the penalty spot.

The battle for the runner-up placing continues unabated. But now it is three clubs, not four, who are contesting the issue which means a berth in the Europa League next season.

After Floriana drew with Marsaxlokk on Saturday, Birkirkara beat Tarxien Rainbows comfortably on Sunday to temporarily eliminate the Rainbows.

The situation now sees Birkirkara and Floriana jointly in second place, a massive 12 points behind Valletta, while Marsaxlokk are just one point behind. Only four matches with a maximum 12 points remain to be played.

One would have expected Floriana and Marsaxlokk to draw their match on Saturday. The two teams are certainly balanced and there was practically little or no difference at all between the two teams.

Marsaxlokk, perhaps, saw slightly more of the ball in the first half, but Floriana were the better side on the changeover when they staged a rally to finally score their deserved equaliser.

On Sunday, Birkirkara returned to winning form after their disastrous performance against Floriana just a week before.

There was absolutely no comparison with the Stripes side on Sunday with that of the previous week.

This time Paul Zammit’s boys showed more determination and, above all, were more effective in front of goal although they still contrived to miss some glaring chances before Trevor Cilia’s late first half goal put them in pole position.

That goal seemed to have killed all Tarxien’s hopes and an early second half strike by ‘old fox’ Michael Galea as well as another for good measure by Ibrahim Babatunde near the end made it a comfortable win for the Stripes.

The Rainbows are now almost completely out of the running – it will be very difficult (though still not impossible) to bridge the six-point gap in the remaining four matches – for the runner-up issue.

But they still harbour hopes of making it to Europe via the FA Trophy. In fact, they are in the semi-finals of the competition which will be completed midway through next month.

Best player

Michael Galea

(Birkirkara FC)

The Stripes’ veteran striker is my pick this weekend after his good performance in the 3-0 victory against Tarxien Rainbows on Sunday afternoon.

In past reviews, I had remarked that Galea was off form this season after having gone through a quiet period which saw his side missing a good number of points.

However, lately, he has certainly regained his form and has again emerged as the great striker we were accustomed to in past years.

On Sunday he scored a good goal which confirmed that this player is still a valid asset for the Stripes – and for Maltese football.