Sirens and Sliema Wanderers shared the spoils in a goalless draw at the National Stadium on Friday.
A draw which suited neither side as Sirens eyed the three points in their bid to maintain the challenge with the top teams and Sliema were aiming for precious points in order to climb out of the danger zone.
Sirens now lie in third place on the 35-point mark while Sliema join Gudja in the fourth place from bottom.
Gilmar da Silva Ribeiro went close to putting the Wanderers ahead with a low shot which hit the foot of the upright when served by Arthur Henrique early in the game but towards the end of the first half, Sliema goalkeeper Jake Galea performed good saves on Wellington de Oliveira and Flavio Cheveresan.
Late in the game, Sliema went close once again but a freekick by Gilmar scraped past the post.
SIRENS David Cassar, Ryan Grech, Wellington de Oliveira, Sergio Raphael dos Anjos, Romario Lucas Menezes (62′ Romeu Pericles Romao), Ricardo Silva Faria, Adrian Borg, Abdullahi Ige Adeshina (78′ Luke Sciberras), Edward Herrera, Thiago Espindola de Paula, Flavio Silva Cheveresan.
Subs not used: Miguel Montfort, Luke Grech, Matthias Saliba, Daniel Sant, Larken Friggieri.
Coach: Steve D’Amato
Asst. Coach: Terence FormosaSLIEMA Jake Grech, Kurt Shawn, John Mintoff, Mark Scerri, Claudio Zappa (67′ Alex Satariano, Juri Cisotti, Gilmar da Silva Ribeiro (86′ Claudio Pani), Edmond Agius, Arthur Henrique Oyama, Goran Adamovic, (73′ Jonathan Pearson), Jean Paul Farrugia.
Subs not used: Adam Buttigieg, Michele Sansone, Gareh Barone, Gabriel Duarte Lustosa.
Coach: Andrea Pisanu
Asst. Coach: Noel TurnerReferee: Philip Farrugia
Assistant Referees: Roberto Vella, Luke Portelli
Fourth Official: Slobodan Petrovic
Yellow Cards: Cheveresan, Sciberras, Agius
BOV Player of the Match: Juri Cisotti