The ninth round of matches saw no particular changes at the top of the standings. Hibernians and Valletta both suffered unexpected setbacks – they were held to draws – but still managed to increase the gap between them and the remaining challengers. The only teams that made a 100 per cent profit among the top six were Qormi and Birkirkara who won their matches comfortably. At the other end of the table, there were important wins for Balzan and Tarxien, while Hamrun obtained a precious point from a draw against Hibernians.

Henry Brincat takes a look at the situation after the ninth round of matches.

The top two in the Premier League standings had their march at the top halted briefly the past weekend as they were both held to 1-1 draws.

Hibs and Valletta found stiff opposition from Hamrun Spartans and Sliema respectively and both dropped two points from their encounters.

The biggest surprise was obviously that of Hibernians who were forced to come from behind to earn a point.

Compared to their previous matches, this was more or less a lacklustre performance by the Paolites – their fans expected a lot more, especially after Valletta had dropped two points from their match against Sliema on Friday.

The Paolites failed to show their good form since the start of the season mainly because the Spartans managed to rise to the occasion after their 4-0 drubbing against Birkirkara the previous weekend.

Hamrun richly merited the point. They fought every inch of their Stadium pitch in front of their own fans for it. In fact, the point must rank as very precious – it fills their clan with enthusiasm and optimism.

The weekend had started in disappointment for the Valletta clan as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Sliema on Friday evening.

For all intents and purposes it must be said that despite City’s territorial superiority, it was a fair result – Sliema, in fact, never deserved to lose after their great-hearted effort to avoid another negative result.

Valletta never showed their true potential. Considering that all the best elements in local football are concentrated at Valletta, one would have expected much better.

Where was all the talent in Jesmond Zerafa’s side? It was certainly nowhere to be seen. True they enjoyed the lion’s share of the attacking, but Michael Mifsud and Denni Rocha dos Santos were only a shadow of their usual selves. I could count only two or three shots at goal between these two prime strikers as they failed to find their way past Galabov & Co. When they did so, they found goalie Curmi blocking their way.

It had to be Roderick Briffa to solve City’s current scoring problems on Friday. He scored a gem of a goal which can easily be considered as a Eurogoal.

Sliema showed a lot of improvement from their recent performances, especially the defeats against Hamrun and Mosta.

The Blues once again showed commitment and determination to get out of the ordeal with a richly deserved point.

Danilo Doncic’s team played a superb tactical match – defending with all their might and attacking in swift forays which, at times, had City’s defence at sixes and sevens.

The plan seemed to have gone wrong when Briffa scored that magnificent goal, but one of the best players on the field of play – Roderick Bajada – invented one of his own a few minutes later. It proved to be Sliema’s salvation on the day.

Qormi maintained their recent positive run with a splendid 4-1 win over Mosta.

But it had to be a disputed decision – the dismissal of Tisbi – that mostly led to their convincing win. In my opinion, they would still have won the match – there was no question as to who was the best team on the field of play - but with eleven against eleven players, it would have been a different story and it would certainly not have been easy as it resulted to be.

In fact, till Tisbi’s red card, Mosta had given a good account of themselves. But with a man missing, they found out that it was too much and had to bow to superior opponents.

On Monday evening, Birkirkara also joined Qormi and Floriana on the 16-point mark after a 3-0 win against the Greens.

The Stripes have thus scored a second consecutive win since Paul Zammit returned to the helm and the future obviously looks brighter now, also judging by their performance.

However, it had to be a controversial penalty decision that paved the way for their victory. Not only did the Stripes open the score from that penalty, but also enjoyed numerical superiority till the end of the match after Floriana goalie Matthew Bartolo saw red for kicking the ball at the rejoicing Birkirkara players. It was a poor show from the goalie. He should know that such a reaction is unacceptable.

In the circumstances, he let the side down as in 10 men, the Greens appeared to be an inferior side to Birkirkara who could therefore coast home to a comfortable victory. Tarxien also gave new coach Patrick Curmi a perfect start as they beat a heavily depleted Mqabba side by the odd goal in five.

The Rainbows almost lost everything near the end, when Mqabba threatened to save a point after having been three goals in arrears.

Clive Mizzi’s side had five regular players missing through suspension and the coach had to reshuffle his side completely.

One expected them to suffer Tarxien’s ascendancy. The latter built a solid 3-0 lead early, but they nearly squandered it completely, allowing their opponents to score two goals to get back seriously in contention.

Balzan Youths maintained their positive run with an excellent 3-1 victory against Marsaxlokk.

After a balanced first half, Balzan made the most of the southern seasiders’ shortcomings at the back to open a 3-0 lead a few minutes into the second half which put them firmly in pole position at the start of the second half.

The Youths have now moved to a healthy position in the middle of the standings. If only they can manage to hold on to such form, they might be able to win more precious points.

As for Marsaxlokk, it was another huge disappointment. After the departure of coach Winston Muscat, it seems as if things have not changed. In fact, I might say that this must rank as one of their poorest performances so far.

If the team fails to lift itself from their current precarious position, they will certainly find themselves in serious trouble in future.

Best player

Rumen Galabov (Sliema W.)

My pick this week falls on Sliema’s stalwart Rumen Galabov who was outstanding in the match against Valletta.

He was employed in the heart of the defence. Frankly, I think that most of City’s attacks fell apart at either his head or his feet.

Galabov was simply in a class of his own in the Sliema area. He never lost a ball in the air and was always ahead of his opponents in clearing the ball in some dangerous situations.

In a few words, he was the main inspiration behind this Sliema performance.

Top scorers

10 goals - Edison Luis dos Santos (Hibernians)

7 – Obinne Obifuele (Marsaxlokk), Clayton Failla (Hibernians), Daniel Mariano Bueno (Tarxien R.), Joseph Farrugia (Qormi)

6 –Moises Avila Perez (Birkirkara),

5 – William Barbosa (Valletta), Bojan Mamic, Thiago Mazitelli (Mqabba)