Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/874823
maltatoday SUNDAY, 17 SEPTEMBER 2017 Sport 50 DARTS FOOTBALL DURING the first week of October, the 56th edition of the Malta Darts Association – National League competitions get underway in what is expected to be another exciting season for all participating clubs. In the last couple of season`s the sport made huge inroads on the island and a clear evidence of this is that this year we`ll see nine new clubs participating in the national com- petitions, one of which will be com- posed of only female players. Early predicitions Division One Participating Teams: Kalkara St Joseph, Floriana Ajax A, Mosta Horseshoe Bar A, Birzeb- bugia Cox Sports Club A, Zejtun Beland Bullseye, Gudja POs Bar A, Hamrun Education Bar A, Senglea M. Conquest A. Battling it out for the top hon- our next season, looks to be a two- horse race with current champions Kalkara St Joseph and runners-up Floriana Ajax A on level par. Mosta Horseshoe Bar A and Birzebbugia Cox Sports Club A likely to finish in 3rd and 4th spots again, but like any other sport a few upsets are on the card with the remaining four teams main goal being to maintain divi- sion one status for another season. Division Two Participating Teams: Floriana Ajax B, Cospicua Rangers, Gudja POs Bar B, Birzebbugia Cox Sports Club B, Mosta Horseshoe Bar B, Hamrun Education Bar B, Bugibba Sun City A, St Venera Red Square. The front runners in this division are expected to be Mosta Horse- shoe Bar B, Floriana Ajax B and St Venera Red Square with all three teams intensively active during the off-season recruiting new players. The remaining five teams are ex- pected to be battling out for fourth spot which would ensure a place in the championship division for the latter part of the season. Division Three Participating Teams: Mqabba St Mary BC, St Paul's Diamonds, Mgarr The Hatch Sports Pub, Bugibba Sun City La- dies, Floriana Ajax C, Floriana Boc- ci Club, Hamrun Bayern Munich, Senglea M. Conquest B, Siggiewi St Nicholas BC, Sliema Tipico Club Lounge, St Paul's Band Club, Zur- rieq FC. With nine of the twelve team represented in this division mak- ing their debut anything can hap- pen, especially because up to now the full list of registered players per team is still unknown. The as- sociation is eagerly looking forward to this division because for only the second time in history a team will be composed of only female players and three new towns in Malta will be represented … Siggiewi, Sliema and Zurrieq. Dart National League competitions to start in October PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARPICS Rampant Manchester City go top, Palace slump continues MANCHESTER City thumped Watford 6-0 to move top of the Premier League on Saturday as Crystal Palace suffered their fifth successive loss in a 1-0 defeat by Southampton. With joint leaders Manchester United playing on Sunday, along with Chelsea, City took their op- portunity to lay down a title mark- er with another attacking master- class and go three points clear of their neighbours at the summit. Sergio Aguero scored his 10th City hat-trick, with strike partner Gabriel Jesus, Nicolas Otamendi and Raheem Sterling also netting against previously unbeaten Wat- ford as City, who beat Liverpool 5-0 and Feyenoord 4-0 this week, romped home. Aguero has now scored 175 goals for City and is closing in on the club's all-time record of 177, set by Eric Brook between 1928 and 1940. Former England manager Roy Hodgson would have loved to call on some of that firepower at Sel- hurst Park as he began his latest job at Crystal Palace, who look serious candidates for relegation after suffering the worst start to a season by any side in English foot- ball's top-flight history. Steven Davis scored the only goal of the game after six minutes and Southampton, for whom Virgil van Dijk came on as a substitute to play his first game in eight months, survived the odd second-half scare to take all three points. "We didn't deserve a fairytale ending," Hodg- son said. "We didn't play well enough. After the goal you could see the nerves and the anxiety." It was hardly much better for Liverpool who completed a disap- pointing week by drawing 1-1 with Burnley at Anfield. The visitors re- mained unbeaten away from home in the Premier League this season after a win at Chelsea and a draw at Tottenham Hotspur. Even Philippe Coutinho's first start could not secure the points for Liverpool, who trailed to a Scott Arfield goal before Moham- ed Salah equalised with his fifth of the season. Newcastle United posted their third successive win, 2-1 over Stoke City, to cheer Rafa Benitez on his return to the dugout after ill health. For the second week running, Jamaal Lascelles scored the winner to justify the expected award of a new five-year contract at the club. Newcastle are fourth, two places and one point above fellow pro- moted side Huddersfield Town, who drew 1-1 with Leicester City. Jamie Vardy's second-half penal- ty earned the visitors a point after Laurent Depoitre had given Hud- dersfield the lead. West Ham United drew 0-0 with West Bromwich Albion in a game memorable only for Gareth Barry's record-equalling 632nd Premier League appearance for the home side at The Hawthorns. In yesterday's late kickoff, sug- gestions that Tottenham Hotspur had cracked their home curse after their midweek Champions League victory over Borussia Dortmund proved shortlived. Mauricio Pochettino's side were held 0-0 by Swansea City, the third successive time Wembley's new tenants have failed to win at home in the league this season.