Lija, Naxxar and Senglea... who will win the Div. One title?

Lija Athletic, Naxxar Lions and Senglea Athletic may have secured promotion to the BOV Premier League but all three teams go into their final matches still in with a chance of winning the Division One title. Not only that but the battle for fourth spot and the right to contest the promotion/relegation play-off against the team finishing second-from-bottom in the top flight is also wide open. Qormi and Mqabba are the two teams in the race for fourth spot. Indeed, the BOV Division One championship is expected to reach a thrilling climax on Sunday afternoon with the three final-day fixtures involving the title and promotion play-off contenders kicking off simultaneously at 4pm. Lija Athletic and Naxxar Lions lead the way on 51 points, one ahead of Senglea Athletic. The permutations are various. Lija and Naxxar, who clinched promotion last week with wins over Marsa and Sirens respectively, have an edge over Senglea but, as the old football saying goes, it’s touch and go. Led by coach Stephen D’Amato, Senglea reached their promotion objective last Monday after a 3-0 defeat of Melita. On paper, Lija Athletic are favourites to win the Division One title as they face fifth-placed Mqabba at the Centenary Stadium while Naxxar Lions will be involved in a direct title clash wth Senglea Athletic at the Tedesco Stadium. Lija, led by coach Joe Grech, will secure the title outright if they win their final match and Naxxar drop points in their clash with Senglea at the Tedesco Stadium. On the other hand, Vince Carbonaro’s Naxxar will be crowned champions if they overcome Senglea and Lija Athletic drop points. A draw for Naxxar and a defeat for Lija would also hand the title to the Lions. A win or a draw for both Lija and Naxxar would set up a title decider between the two whereas for Senglea to claim the title, they must beat Naxxar and hope that Lija lose or draw against Mqabba. As for the battle for fourth spot, Qormi (46), who play against Sirens, lead Mqabba (44) by two points. Qormi would seal fourth spot if they win their game against Sirens while Mqabba must beat Lija and hope that Qormi lose to Sirens to finish fourth. A draw for Qormi and a win for Mqabba on Sunday would set up a decider for fourth place.