Qormi 7
White Hart 1
Umpires: Anthony Tabone, Edward Hughes
Qormi scored three goals in the first 11 minutes. The first one, after just one minute’s play was scored by Steve Tanti. Juan Sarcia grabbed the second in the 6th minute and Keith Calleja the third in the 11th minute, rounding off a crisp move.
They continued to dominate proceedings and after White Hart’s David Agius cleared off the line with the goalkeeper beaten, Qormi went further ahead just before half time when Steve Tanti scored his second, and Qormi’s fourth goal.
In the second half, Paul Torpiano pulled one back for White Hart in the 41st minute but Qormi struck back immediately when Julian Zahra shot them into a 5-1 lead.
Furthermore, after a short interlude, when White Hart won four penalty corners to no avail, in the 61st minute Qormi were awarded a penalty stroke which Juan Sarcia converted and a minute from time Rudolph Camilleri scored the seventh goal for his team to complete the rout which exposed White Hart’s defensive frailties.
Rabat 1
Hotsticks 2
Umpires: Raymond Micallef, Reno Cremona
Rabat and Hotsticks exchanged seven penalty corners by the 20th minute when, as a result of Rabat’s third one, Josef Antonelli shot them ahead.
After Hotsticks missed a chance to equalise in the 22nd minute they did just that a minute before half time when Ludolf Pasterhoff levelled the match at a critical moment.
The earlier part of the second half saw Hotsticks apply pressure and in the 43rd minute their efforts were rewarded when Leanne Gauci scored their second goal from an acute angle.
Rabat then laid siege to the Hotsticks goal and won nine penalty corners from the 18th minute onwards.
The Hotsticks goalkeeper, Elton Farrugia, covered himself in glory by saving four point blank shots in succession and keeping his goal intact on several other occasions to help his side to victory.
Defeat for a depleted Rabat team means that Qormi need only one point from their last two matches to secure a back-to-back championship win.