Rabat Depiro Homing In On Fifth Consecutive Title.

The second round of the Blue Label National league came to an end on Sunday and Rabat Depiro increased their lead at the top of the table to four points after their 1-0 victory over The Hunters� Tower and Sliema�s 0-0 draw with Poiatti Qormi. This advantage should be good enough for Rabat to clinch their fifth consecutive title and equal the record set by Young Stars between 1978/79 and 1882/83.

The League now takes a weekend break and resumes on the 26^th March with the Rabat vs. Sliema clash. Rabat go into this match with the enviable position of knowing that any result will suit them. Their worse case scenario would be a victory for Sliema but this would still leave their rivals trailing by one point and few matches left to play. The two sides have met three times this season. In the Challenge up Rabat emerged easy winners by 6 goals to nil but the two league matches were a different kettle of fish with the sides battling out to two 2-2 draws with Rabat having to pull back a two goal deficit in the second round game. Sliema will be hoping that this two-week break will help them recover some of the first team players that have been absent in recent games. Namely Dylan Lentini, Keith Scicluna and Simon Baldacchino. On the other hand the Champions will be hoping that this break will not disrupt the momentum that they have built up in recent games.

On Sunday Rabat overcome a very difficult obstacle in The Hunters� Tower who were playing their last chances to stay in the Championship race. Following Sunday�s defeat it seems that this chance has now gone. On Sunday, especially in the first half, they had to contend with an Ian Azzopardi (Rabat�s goalkeeper) in splendid form, who crowned a fantastic performance in the second half when, with the score at 1-0, he saved a penalty from David Evans. Rabat�s decisive goal came two minutes into the second half when from following a cross from the right, a Young Stars defender and goalkeeper Mizzi got into a tangle and Jason Vella had the easiest of tasks to slip the ball into an empty net.

Following their 1-1 draw the previous Sunday against The Hunters� Tower, Sliema�s championship hopes received a further setback when Poiatti Qormi held them to a scoreless draw.  Having to field a different starting eleven for the umpteenth time this season, Sliema never got into some sort of rhythm even though they had more possession. There best chance in the first half fell to Andrei Imbroll who, after going past a couple of defenders, slipped the ball wide of Chircop�s post. Qormi were content to play out for a draw but with Sliema pushing forward late in the game, they had their chances to take all three points but the usually lethal Chris Bugeja fumbled a couple of easy chances. Sliema�s hopes now lie in their up coming match against Rabat and even taking all three points may not be enough.

Henry Cachia / Ian Crockford