Qormi bagged the three important points to install themselves among the top eight of the FXDD Premier Division standings after a hard-fought 3-2 win against fourth-placed Pembroke.

It was an entertaining match full of thrilling occasions from both sides.

Qormi went close in the 9^th minute with Mohammed Abdallah but his shot went wide.

Pembroke twice replied one minute later through Bryan Deguara but both occasions went wide from Stefan Vella’s goalpost.

Qormi seriously threatened to open the score in the 13^th minute but Steve Shead’s freekick hit the post.

Pembroke went ahead in the 19^th minute with Karl Azzopardi after a good move from his team-mates.

Qormi made a good comeback in the second half and scored twice from Allen Medati and Mark Camilleri to make it 2-1.

Pembroke again found the equalizer through Karl Azzopardi to complete a brace and give new hopes for his teams.

They pressed forward in search of the winning goal that would strengthen their top four position in the table.

But one minute from the end, Qormi scored what proved to be the winning goal. It was Allen Medati who hit the target to clinch a dramatic win for his side.

Luxol ……………….5

Balzan ………………5

(H.T 1-2)

A second  half comeback earned Luxol a precious point in the FXDD Premier Division clash against Balzan that helped them keep both the second place in the table and the unbeaten record in the league.

It was a match that was heading into Balzan’s favour after a 5-1 advantage. But Luxol fought back and fairly got the draw to preserve the one point advantage towards their opponents in the table.

Prior to kick off, Luxol’s player-coach, Florin Anton was presented with a memento  by club president Mario Vella as a thanksgiving for his time at Balzan last season.

Both sets of teams had the luxury of fielding some quality players. Balzan had Romanian internationals Emil Raducu and Gabriel Dobre as well as Bulgarian Boycho Marev playing in the initial five.

Player-coach Florin Anton decided to start with Brazilian William Barbosa and keeper Adrian Attard deputising Malta international Bjorn Vassallo who felt sick .

Balzan had the backing of their supporters who turned in numbers to encourage their favourite team.

The match had a thrilling start with Luxol threatening the Balzan rearguard as Dean Gera’s shot was saved by keeper Farrugia.

But two minutes later, Balzan broke the deadlock and what a goal! Romanian international Emil Raducu received from Dobre and after stopping the ball with a first timer put the ball past Adrian Attard.

Luxol reacted immediately and restored parity through Ibrahim Tarik after  stealing a ball from a Balzan player.

As the clock struck the 13th minute,  Balzan went close through a Dobre shot but Luxol’s  custodian Adrian Attard reacted with a great save.

The match proved to be intensive and one minute later Balzan found their second goal with Emil Raducu performing a solo action before finding the net with a fierce shot.

Dobre again went close but his shot finished wide.

Thirty-four seconds from the end a William Barbosa freekick was ably saved by keeper Farrugia to deny the equalizer for Luxol.

In the second half,  Balzan opened well and found the net again through player-coach Gabriel Dobre who put the ball into the net after an Emil Raducu shot.

In the space of thirty-seconds Dobre and Raducu scored two goals to make it 5-1 with Luxol’s rearguard completely shattered.

Luxol reduced the arrears in the space of 45 seconds  through William Barbosa and George Frendo to give some fresh hopes for their side.

6:49 from the end Luxol scored again when former Qormi player George Frendo dribbled Matthew Xerxen to deposit home and make it 5-4.

Luxol went close for the equalizer after Eslam Khalifa’s shot was well saved by Xerxen.

Now Luxol were pressing forward and it was no surprise that they restored parity when Florin Anton’s shot passed through several legs after finishing into the net.

Two minutes from the end, the post denied Barbosa the winning goal.

The draw left everything as it was in the table with Luxol satisfied to  keep the second position in the standings and Balzan a bit disappointed to lose two points that could have got them nearer to the leadership.

Balzan: Nicholas Farrugia, Boycho Marev, Glenn Bonello, Gabriel Dobre, Nicola Del Re, Jovica Milijic, Christian Wismayer, Matthew Xerxen, Adrian Lia, Clint Cope, Rennie Tanti, Emil Andrei Raducu, Carlos Scicluna.

Luxol: Jose Da Silva, Karl Saliba, Dean Gera, William Barbosa, George Frendo, Noel Bray, Adrian Attard, Eslam Khalifa, Florin Anton, Ibrahim Tarek, Bjorn Vassallo

Referee 1: Franco Cachia

Referee 2: Jude Amin Utulu

Time-Keeper: Mark O’Neill

Yellow Cards: Christian Wismayer, Glenn Bonello (B), Ibrahim Tarek (L)

Only a point seperates Luxol and Balzan before they play against each other tomorrow at 9:15 pm. Both of them played 12 matches, which means that Hibernians played an additional game. In fact Hibernians are only three points ahead of Luxol at the top of the table.

When this site contacted Luxol’s player and coach Florin Anton he said that Balzan have more chance to win. In the meantime a victory for Luxol will be of great importance to reach their target to win the league. He ended that this game will be a pleasant game for all futsal enthusiasts.

Hamrun did what was expected of them yesterday as they beat bottom placed Birzebbugia 7-3 to earn three valuable points that pushed them fifth in the table along with Zabbar and San Gwann.

Spanish striker Cristian Cuadros Silva inspired the Spartans with four goals and good assists for his team mates. The other important goals were scored by Mohammed Elamari, Christian Cacciatolo and Martin Svihalek.

San Gwann’s Andy Mangion marshalled his team to victory after netting two braces in his side’s win against Swieqi 6-4. Rudy Pace and Alan Borg completed the score for the Yellow/Blues.

Zabbar had the better of Mosta 6-3 to strengthen their position with the top eight of the standings.

In the FXDD First Division, Valletta continued with their fine form after routing Msida 7-1. This was Valletta’s seventh consecutive win who climb third in the table, one point less than second-placed Zebbug.

Kurt Bartolo marked his return in FXDD Premier Division last Friday after several months out from the game due to a serious injury he had suffered. He signed his return in style as he hit a hat-trick to help his side Hibernians register a 21-6 victory against Zurrieq.

This website talked to Bartolo who felt really satisfied about his comeback.

“I’ve been waiting so much for this moment ,” said Bartolo.

“Although I have suffered a lot, I never gave up even when my return seemed so long.”

“My first thoughts were to return playing in the month of  April. But I have worked a lot on my recovery by going to the gym, attending some physiotherapy sessions and going to the pool.”

“I admit that I have made a speedy recovery.”

“During last Friday’s match, I just wanted to play for a few minutes. But my mentor Kevin Mifsud gave me the chance to play after just five minutes.”

“I thought that now was the time to show my worth. Luckily enough I was proved right as I scored my first goal after on 50 seconds on the pitch.”

“That goal boosted my confidence as I hit the target two more times to help my team register one of the biggest scores so far.”

Bartolo is now looking forward for the last part of the league and wants to help the Paolites to clinch the title for the second consecutive year.

FXDD First Division leaders Qrendi got back to winning ways on Sunday after earning a 6-3 victory over Kalkara at the Corradino Pavillion.

Qrendi hit a bit of a stumbling block last week when they were beaten by Fgura 5-4.

But this time out, the leaders made sure to grab the three precious points after two braces from Ronald Spina and Antonello Brincat, Alan Spiteri and Kevin Vella that helped their side to success.

This win also helped Qrendi to extend their lead over their nearest rivals Zebbug and Gzira who had mixed fortunes during this weekend.

Zebbug defeated Mqabba 3-1 to bounce back in the second position to obtain their ninth win of the season.

On the contrary, Gzira suffered their fourth defeat of the season after being beaten by a mighty Valletta side 2-1. Baldassare Borg proved to be the Citizens’ inspirational player after hitting a brace for his team. For the record this was Valletta’s sixth consecutive win and are still unbeaten in 2014.

Even Fgura continued with their positive patch in this campaign after thumping Naxxar 7-0 to obtain their seventh success of the season.

Msida had the better of Sta Lucia 4-0 to climb in the eighth position in the standings. Mark Pace, Alan Micallef and Chris Cutajar were among the scorers for the winners.

In another close game Marsascala beat Sirens 3-2 to leapfrog the same opponents and bounce ninth in the table. Marco Mizzi, Andrew Galea and Noel Tabone hit the target for Marsascala.

Hibernians’ nippy striker Kurt Bartolo capped his long awaited return from injury by scoring a hat-trick and helping his side to an impressive 21-6 victory over Zurrieq.

Bartolo  completed the last stage of his recovery from an operation and contributed to his side’s victory.

For the Paolites this was their twelfth victory which keeps them in a comfortable position at the top of the FXDD Premier Division three points ahead of Luxol and four from third-placed Balzan.

Hibernians dominated from the beginning and there was no match for Zurrieq who found it hard to stop their opponents furious attacks.

Georgian international David Bobokhidze scored six goals, Melvin Borg and Cedric Sciberras scored four goals while Kurt Bartolo hit the target three times. Among the other scorers for Hibernians were Xavier Saliba and Celino Alves.

Hamrun Spartans returned to winning ways after seeing off Luqa 8-4 to climb fifth in the  table.

After finding themselves down, Hamrun made a swift reaction and scored five goal without reply. Luqa tried to make a reaction by scoring another three goals but the Hamrun rearguard defended well to secure the victory.

Cristian Cuadros Silva, Mohammed Elamari, Gustav Baldacchino and Christian Cacciatolo were among the scorers for the Spartans with Luqa scoring through Justin Muscat, Andrew Scerri, Mark Buhagiar and Joseph Meilak.

Birzebbuga obtained their first win of the season after beating Swieqi 5-2 in a match between two teams that are struggling in the league.

A brace by Jovil Abela, Aaron Dalli, John Babbatonn and Haitam Saghaib gave the three important points for the Southsiders who reach Swieqi in the four point mark.

Darren Agius and Christian Hurtado reduced the arrears for Swieqi.