The ‘mighty’ Valletta have faltered once again. After their 7-2 avalanche win against Balzan in the middle of last week, the citizens dropped another two points in a 1-1 draw with Birkirkara. Thanks to this point, the Stripes have made the third place their own as Floriana suffered another defeat, this time at the hands of Hibernians, who now share the leadership with Valletta.

At the other end of the table, Qormi made a bold step towards confirming their status for at least another season as they struck late to beat Tarxien. Hamrun and Mqabba also made a step forward in their bid to avoid relegation. The former beat the southern seasiders comfortably 6-1 while Mqabba overcame Mosta by a solitary goal margin.

Henry Brincat takes a glance at what happened in the weekend matches.

Valletta missed out on another two points in their quest to retain the title they won last season as they were held to a one-all draw by the rejuvenated Birkirkara side.

In the circumstances, with Hibernians winning against Floriana, they have now been joined at the top by the Paolites who, by now, must be fancying their chances of winning the title.

It is now more than evident that the title hunt is restricted to these two clubs as Birkirkara, now alone in third place, remain a distant 10 points adrift and nowhere in sight of a comeback despite that eight matches still have to be played.

Valletta’s potential is not being shown on the field of play and against Birkirkara, their best was only seen in the opening stages of the second half until they scored through Dennis Dos Santos who had hit the post earlier.

Jesmond Zerafa’s boys failed to lift their performance above mediocrity and the in-form Stripes were giving them a very hectic time as they struggled to keep them at bay, especially in the first half.

The citizens seem to be losing all their confidence and it is evident that they need to pull up their socks quickly and pull the rope together in time to be able to reach their best for the first match of this phase against Hibernians which is fast approaching.

Birkirkara must have been more than satisfied with the point they earned through that late penalty equaliser from Avila Perez.

Although there might have been those who disagreed with the referee’s decision to order that late penalty, the draw was, perhaps, a fair result.

The Stripes confirmed that they are back in business and are now occupying third place on their own following Floriana’s latest defeat. This must now be their main target after having also been eliminated from the FA Trophy.

The Paolites remain on course for the title. Now they are no longer on the heels of the citizens, but have joined them at the top and I am sure that they will not be looking back.

Mark Miller’s boys are well aware that the end of the road is still far away and they will have to be on alert till the very end, if they are to lift the title.

On Saturday, their performance might not have been among those ranked as the best this season, but they were still good enough to beat the depleted Floriana side with two second half goals.

The Paolites were unimpressive in their build up, especially in the first half when Floriana seemed to be on top and even created the better chances.

The Greens, however, felt the absence of their suspended trio of Woods, Micallef and Akoto, but were still the best team on the field of play in the opening 45 minutes.

However, they failed to beat an inspiring Muscat in between the Hibs posts and paid the penalty in the second half when they suffered two goals to surrender not only the three points on the day, but also third place to Birkirkara.

In the other Championship Pool match this weekend, Sliema and Balzan shared six goals and the points in what turned out to be one of the best matches so far this season.

This match had a bit of everything. In fact, apart from the six goals – five of them in the second half – we had two red cards and some entertaining stuff from both sides.

The heavily depleted Sliema must be commended for pulling back from behind three times to secure a point which might still be very useful in future. And they did it with nine men on the field of play! That was certainly an achievement.

Balzan must also be praised for showing they had overcome the shock they suffered during the middle of last week when they went down heavily (7-2) to Valletta.

The Youths were a totally different side on Monday and had it not been for Sliema’s experience and resilience, they would have won their first match ever in the Championship Pool.

With four minutes to go they seemed to be home and dry as they scored a third goal to go 3-2 in front, but they were disappointed to allow Sliema to crawl back and equalise just before the final whistle.

At the other end of the table, Qormi made a bold step forward in securing their status for at least another season when they scored a late goal from a Pereira freekick to beat Tarxien Rainbows.

The victory enabled Qormi to consolidate their top spot in the standings, four points ahead of Hamrun Spartans who now occupy second place.

It was a deserved victory for the Yellow Blacks who returned to winning form after their disastrous outing against Marsaxlokk the previous week when they suffered an unexpected 1-0 defeat.

For the Rainbows it was a setback after last week’s win. Their unpredictable season continues and they are still far away from making their position in next year’s Premier League secure.

Hamrun Spartans finally gave their fans a lot to shout about with a comfortable and very impressive 6-1 victory against Marsaxlokk.

The Spartans have therefore gained a lot of confidence at a crucial moment in the competition. Their fans now hope that the team can continue to move on the right track after their previous disappointments.

Marsaxlokk failed to live up to the previous week’s form when they surprised everyone, including themselves, to beat Qormi.

On Sunday, they were never given a chance by the Spartans, who took the lead early and never looked back, scoring another five goals in the process.

After this defeat, avoiding relegation remains very difficult for the southern seasiders, but not everything is lost yet.

Mqabba also did quite well to beat a disappointing Mosta side 1-0.

That only goal was enough for Clive Mizzi’s outfit to obtain three precious points which have certainly lifted their spirits, considering that they had lost 1-0 to Tarxien in their previous outing.

Mosta were just a shadow of the team we had become accustomed to in recent weeks and it was not a surprise that they ended up on the losing end.

The Blues failed to master an Mqabba defence which appeared well organised, allowing little space to dangerman Obifuele who found it very difficult to penetrate.

Mosta have now been joined in third place by Mqabba and it seems as if the relegation battle this season will only be decided near the end.

Best player

Denni Rocha dos Santos

(Valletta FC)

The Brazilian midfielder/striker is my pick this week after his impressive performance against Birkirkara on Saturday.

He was perhaps the only player who rose to the occasion in a Valletta side which lacked conviction for most of the time.

Every time he had the ball at his feet, he either threatened the Birkirkara post or tried to set his team-mates who, however, failed to respond as expected.

Top scorers

20 - Edison Luis dos Santos (Hibs)

19 - Obinna Obiefule (Mosta)

12 - Moises Avila Perez (Birkirkara), Jorge Pereira (Qormi)

11 - Clayton Failla (Hibernians), P. dos Santos Calcado (Balzan Y.), A. Ribeiro (Hamrun S.)

10 - Joseph Farrugia (Qormi), D. Rocha dos Santos (Valletta),

9 - Alfred Effiong (Valletta), Bojan Mamic (Mqabba)