Third straight league loss for the champions
Caffe Moak Luxol 47 Depiro 51 (12-18, 12-11, 12-8, 11-14)
It certainly isn’t a good start to their league title defence as Luxol slumped to their third straight defeat.
They are without a foreigner and Paula Ellul went to a year’s stay in Australia just a few hours after the match ended and she took no part.
Depiro started the game better with a win in two matches and they improved on their positive side. They had to stick to their task to obtain their victory and they were also trailing after the interval but they had it right at the end to pay back for the two Louis Borg Cup losses they had suffered against the same champions.
Depiro made the brighter start with an 11-2 lead and Alexis Lloyd points. Ina Baena Medina put in her points for Luxol also with a triple but Steffi deMartino sank a Depiro trey as well. Sarah Pace netted a Luxol triple but Depiro were still in front at the end of the period.
The next session had Luxol unable to gain ground. DeMartino sank another Depiro trey but Luxol reacted with a brace of Kay Portelli triples. Lloyd netted two hoops in between and Depiro were leading 29-24 at the interval.
After the break Luxol overturned the score with Pace points and two triples. Depiro regained their advantage only to lose it again to a couple of Christina Curmi hoops.
Late in the session, Depiro were ahead once more with two more hoops for a slim 37-36 score.
In the last quarter, Luxol drew ahead with another Medina triple but Depiro struck back boldly making up a 10-0 run with Lloyd and Nicole Agius hoops.
Luxol came closer as Curmi netted her triple but two Agius free shots closed down the match in Depiro’s favour.
Luxol: S. Pace 13, M. Caruana, N. Vella, I. Baena Medina 10, No. Vella 2, K. Portelli 6, C. Sollami, M. Darmanin 3, C. Curmi 13
Depiro: M. Micallef, T. Mifsud, C. Camilleri, M. Bonett 4, S. DeMartino 13, N. Agius 8, No. Agius, A. Lloyd 14, J. Xuereb, L. Camilleri, C. Ciantar 12
Referees: N. Azzopardi, B. Sly, I. Marjanovic