Kalkara St Joseph retain national Division One title
Kalkara St Joseph edged out Floriana Ajax A in a thrilling match to retain the Division One title and deny the greens a clean sweep of all the national team honours.
Before the start of play Kalkara held a two-point lead over Floriana, therefore a draw would have been sufficient to lift the title for the second consecutive year and they started on the right foot with Martin Azzopardi winning the opening game.
There was an immediate reaction from Floriana as they reversed the score in their favour with wins coming from Norbert Attard and John Ciantar. Andy Keen and Gordon Stanmore levelled the score again in the fourth with David Attard giving Floriana the lead again in the fifth.
The next two games followed suit with Gordon Stanmore making the score 3-3 and Vincent Busuttil giving the Greens a one game lead. The winner of the 8th and final game would determine the destination of the title with Vincent Busutill and John Ciantar lined up for Floriana and Chris Cohen and Martin Azzopardi for Kalkara. With the game score tied at 2-2, Martin Azzopardi checked out double 5 which sent Kalkara players, delegates and fans into raptures of joy as they retained a hard-fought title.
At the other end of the table, Gudja POs Bar A came out on top in a must win direct relegation match against Bormla Bocci Club which condemned the blues into playing in Division two next season.
Division Two Hamrun Education Bar A`s 6-2 away win over already promoted Bugibba Munchies Pub saw them lifting the division two title for the second time in three years.
Mosta Bocci Club joins Birzebbugia Cox Sports Club B in division three next season as they only managed a draw in their final match which left them two points adrift of Gudja POs Bar B just one rung above the drop zone.
Division Three Double celebrations for Hamrun Education as their B team ensured promotion on the final game of the season in a 6-2 win over Mqabba St Mary BC.
A mention in this division must go to Mosta Horseshoe Bar B which went through the entire season unbeaten with a 16 win; 2 draw record.
Results Game-week 20/21 (05/05/2017) Division 1 CHAMPIONSHIP DIV: Floriana Ajax A v Kalkara St Joseph 44; Mosta Horseshoe Bar A v B’Bugia Cox Sports Club A 8-0.
RELEGATION DIV: Bormla Bocci Club v Gudja POs Bar A 26; Zejtun Beland Bullseye v Zejtun Juventutis Domus 8-0. Division 2 CHAMPIONSHIP DIV: Senglea M. Conquest v Floriana Ajax B 44; Bugibba Munchies Pub v Hamrun Education Bar A 3-5.
RELEGATION DIV: Gudja POs Bar B v Cospicua Rangers 4-4; B’Bugia Cox Sports Club Bv Mosta Bocci Club 4-4. Division 3 Mgarr The Hatch Sports Bar v St. Venera Red Square 3-5; Mosta Horseshoe Bar B v Bugibba Interc. Sun City 6-2; Hamrun Education Bar B v Mqabba St Mary BC 6-2.
Standings Game-week 20/21 (05/05/2017) Division 1 – Final standings CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION: 1st Kalkara St Joseph (champions) – 51 points; 2nd Floriana Ajax A – 49 points; 3rd Mosta Horseshoe Bar A – 38 points; 4th B’Bugia Cox Sports Club A – 14 points.
RELEGATION DIVISION: 5th Zejtun Beland Bullseye – 27 points; 6th Gudja POs Bar A – 24 points; 7thBormla Bocci Club (relegated)– 22 points; 8th Zejtun Juventutis Domus (relegated) – 2 points.
CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION: 1st Hamrun Education Bar A (champions)– 44 points; 2nd Bugibba Munchies Pub (promoted) – 38 points; 3rd Senglea M. Conquest – 33 points; 4th Floriana Ajax B – 27 points.
RELEGATION DIVISION: 5th Cospicua Rangers – 35 points; 6th Gudja POs Bar B – 21 points; 7th Mosta Bocci Club (relegated) - 19 points; 8th BBugia Cox Sports Club B (relegated) – 4 points. Division 3 – Final Standings 1st Mosta Horseshoe Bar B (champions) – 50 points; 2nd Hamrun Education Bar B (promoted) – 39 points; 3rd Bugibba Intercontinental Sun City – 35 points; 4th St. Venera Red Square – 27 points; 5th Mqabba St. Mary BC – 16 points; 6th St Pauls Diamonds – 11 points; 7th Mgarr The Hatch Sports Bar – 4 points.