Malta BOV ePremier League Group A Recap - A Close ...

Following a few weeks of thrilling competition, the opening Group of the Malta ePremier League has concluded. In this Group A recap, we're taking a closer look at how the matches unravelled in this exceptionally tight group.

Malta BOV ePremier League Group A Recap - Three Pairs

For those unaware, the structure for this Group was very simple - seven players representing seven BOV ePremier Clubs in a round-robin with only the top 4 teams progressing to the Playoffs.

Here's a reminder of the clubs and their representatives for Group A:

Balzan FC - Gianluca "Turbulense" Sant
Hamrun Spartans - Shaun "Brandsha" Galea
Birkirkara FC - Jose " RapidBunny" Martin Sanchez
Valletta FC - Shaun "Vli" Dimech
Gzira United - Dale "Bonell" Bonello
Sirens FC - Wayne "Woncu" Seracino
Santa Lucia FC - Owen "Muwx_19" Tanti

Competing offline with every match broadcasted to the entire nation, here's a look at what the final standings look like:

Post-Group Summary - Down to the Wire

As we'll reiterate, only the top 4 teams move on, meaning that Balzan and Sirens missed out on the Playoffs by just one elusive point! As you can imagine, the action in this Group simply kept giving up until the final evening. Let's summarize all the thrilling storylines.

Dominance from Hamrun and Birkirkara

Let's start with the elephants in the room, as favourites "RapidBunny" and "Brandsha" swept aside the competition and seemingly competed between themselves. Notably, an epic match involved these two veterans facing off, ending in a tight 5-4 victory in favour of Hamrun Spartans. Both players are top threats for the Playoffs. This performance by the resident Mexican proves that his international experience makes him deadly.

Four Way Madness

Words truly fall short of describing how close this Group was on the final day of competition, with third to sixth place undecided until that fateful evening. Yes, while the community is rather perplexed by the performance of veteran Gianluca "Turbulense" Sant as he now misses out on the Playoffs, the matches on the final day were ridiculously unpredictable.

To provide better context, here are some of the most influential matches from the final day of Group A which established the standings on 15th March:

Valletta FC (2-3) Birkirkara FC
Valletta FC (6-4) Sirens
Gzira United (2-5) Sirens
Balzan (5-7) Gzira United
Balzan (1-3) Hamrun Spartans

The two matches in bold are what truly cemented this Group. Dale "Bonell" Bonello managing to upset Gianluca "Turbulense" Sant with a heroic 7-5 victory made the difference for Gzira United, while Valletta FC managed to ward off Sirens' attempt at staying in contention.

Meanwhile, for Santa Lucia, the club faced Birkirkara and Hamrun on the last day of competition - tough matches for anybody to assume.

We'd like to congratulate everyone for their massive efforts.