Valletta St Paul's declared MAFA First Division champions
Valletta St Paul's were declared MAFA First Division champions after beating Valletta Stars St Do‐ minic 4‐1 in the Maltese capital derby.
The St Paul's were trailing against their opponents after six minutes but they knew how to turn the score in their favour so they could celebrate this success.
Valletta's hero was Brazilian striker Elton da Silva who was notched a hat‐trick with Nikolay Filipov adding another one.
Klajdi Qose had put Valletta Stars St Dominic in the lead after just six minutes.
At the end of the match MFA vice‐president Adrian Casha pre‐ sented the cup to Valletta St Paul's captain Leandro Camilleri in the presence of MAFA secre‐ tary David Abdilla.
Referee: Lorry Sammut.
San Ġiljan Saints turned defeat into victory when they beat the already relegated side Senglea Gunners team 4‐3. It was an in‐ credible game as apart from pro‐ ducing seven goals, saw St. Julian's achieving a dramatic vic‐ tory in the dying minutes of the game.
Radu Vlase put San Gijlian on top so that in the second half Nicolas Morantes scored twice between the 43rd and 48th minute.
Ousman Touray scored the third goal for Senglea and when everything seemed that Senglea would close the season with a victory, the Saints produced a fierce reaction as they scored three goals by Sam Whelan in the 62nd minute, Radu Vlase in the 71st minute and Micheal Hen‐ nessy in the 73rd minute. Referee: Milos Krstic.
Mqabba Albions got promotion to the First Division without playing as in the clash between Attard Edex Kings and Ta' Giorni Wanderers, it was the latter who got a 2‐1 victory. Since the Al‐ bions had better direct con‐ frontations than Ta' Giorni and Attard Edex Kings, they were the ones who got the promotion to the highest division.
Ta' Giorni were motivated to win this match and went ahead through Daniel Neeraj Bharwani in the 26th minute with the same player scoring another goal 13 minutes later.
Wilfred Kingson reduced the scoring margin for Attard Edex Kings.
Referee: Peter Abela.
Another verdict that came out of this league was the relegation of Bugibba Club de SWAT even though they drew 0‐0 against Zebbuġ Youngsters.
It was a game dominated by the defences that gave little chance to the opposing attackers to find their way to the goal.
Thus Zebbuġ Youngsters fin‐ ished the league in sixth place with 10 points with Bugibba who finished one point below them and therefore relegated. Referee: Sillah Alhasana.
In the only third division league match, Far Titans and Naxxar Victorians ended in a 1‐1 draw.
After a score of 0‐0 until the end of the first half, in the second half Ħal Far went ahead through Colin Vella although Naxxar re‐ sponded by equalizing the score through Keith Zammit Tabona.
Referee: Jean Pierre Mifsud.
STANDINGS – MAFA FIRST DIVISION
Valletta St Paul's 26, Marsa St Michael 25, Swieqi Braves 24, San Ġwann Pro Evolution Acad‐ emy 22, San Ġiljan Saints 21, Bal‐ luta Barracudas 19, Senglea Gunners 11, Valletta Stars 4.
STANDINGS – MAFA SECOND DIVISION
Għaxaq Wolves 31, Mqabba Al‐ bions, Ta' Ġiorni Wanderers, At‐ tard Edex Kings 20 , Gudja Wanderers 14, Żebbuġ Young‐ sters 11, Buġibba Club de SWAT 10, Birkirkara St Joseph 1.
STANDINGS – MAFA THIRD DIVISION
Ħamrun Amateurs 25, Ħal Far Titans 20, Kalkara Flames 18, Naxxar Victorians 12, Mosta Vikings 0