San Ġiljan scrape past Sliema in dramatic fashion
San Giljan Tum Inv 9 Sliema Frank Salt 8 (2-1), (1-1), (5-4), (2-2)
Champions San Ġiljan TUM Invest secured themselves a place in the play-offs semi-finals after defeating Sliema Frank Salt 9-8 in a nail-biting encounter that kept everyone on their feet till the final whistle. Sliema gave them a good run for their money and could have snatched a point easily.
On the other hand, this win brought the character in San Ġiljan’s team as they didn’t play their best game, and for another game without Dino Zammit, but somehow they managed to finish with three points to stretch their unbeaten run to 51 games.
San Ġiljan won the first session as Matthew Zammit and Paul Fava scored, despite the equaliser by Jerome Gabarretta.
San Ġiljan kept their goal advantage till the end of the first session as Sliema pulled one back from Christian Presciutti after Ben Plumpton made it 3-1.
In this session, Joseph Sammut was instrumental for his team as he saved numerous shots by his opponents and kept Sliema in the game, even when things seem to be heading against them.
Sliema were in search of quick goals to stay in the game and equalised twice from two great goals by Michael Spiteri Staines. Michael Cordina responded to Peter Borg’s goal, but two goals from Matthew Zammit and Ben Plumpton assured the champions of starting the last session 8-6 in front.
Sliema equalised for the fifth time in this game with two goals in the early minutes from Nicholas Bugelli and Christian Presciutti. The tension escalated with both referees having a difficult job to control both sets of players and staff.
In the last minute, San Ġiljan coach Marko Orlovic called a time-out and from that attack, San Ġiljan scored the winning from a shot by Ben Plumpton. Sliema had the chance to equalise in their last attack, but San Ġiljan managed to scrape through.
J. Tanti, P. Borg (1), A. Galea, B. Grech, C. Farrugia, M. Zammit (2), B. Plumpton (3), Da. Zammit, T. Said, P. Obradovic (1), P. Fava (2), D. Ciantar, T. Micallef
J. Sammut, J. Gabarretta (2), C. Presciutti (1), M. Mifsud, M. Meli, K. Dowling, M. Spiteri Staines (2), D. Fenech, M. Cordina (1), J. Gambin, Z. Mizzi, N. Bugelli (1), Z. Sciberras
Massimo Andrea Zedda
FIRST DIVISION
Angileri,
Birzebbuga Freeport 10 Ta’ Xbiex Amigos 6 (2-1), (3-2), (2-2), (3-1)
D. Abela, M. Borg, N. Cassar, D. Pace Lupi (1), S. Mora (2), J. Rizzo Naudi, S. Vassallo (1), D. Cutajar (2), S. Micallef (3), M. Cutajar, K. Rizzo Naudi (1), J. Zerafa Gregory, D. Spiteri
A. Theuma, R. Greco, M. Manara, L. Hyzler, B. Cachia, K. Mock, G. Blundell, N. Dedovic (3), L. Galea (1), G. Sammut, K. Tanti (1), N. Saliba (1)
Tommaso Neville Mercieca Boccia, San Ġiljan Neptunes Sliema Exiles Sirens Valletta P 8 7 8 7 7 7
P Birżebbuġa 7 Marsaxlokk 6 Ta’ Xbiex 7 Marsaskala 5 Otters 5 W 7 4 4 2 1 0 W 6 4 3 2 0 D 1 2 2 2 1 0 D 0 0 0 0 0 L 0 1 2 3 5 7 L 1 2 4 3 5
F 97 88 87 72 53 42
F 69 64 71 47 43 A Pts 66 22 64 14 64 14 78 8 72 4 95 0
Division I
A Pts 53 18 55 12 70 9 47 6 70 0