Neptunes and Sliema earn hard fought wins

SIRENS GREENTUBE NEPTUNES LEO VEGAS (2-3), (2-3), (2-1), (0-2) 6 9

Five personal goals from Valentino Gallo weren’t enough to stop Neptunes Leo Vegas to beat Sirens Greentube 9-6. This win served also as a revenge for Neptunes after they were beaten in the first round. They were compact and disciplined especially in defence and didn’t permit Sirens to move freely.

Sirens were never in the lead during the game and they couldn’t stage a comeback as they didn’t have a large phase of the game that they were better than their opponents. Players like Christian Presciutti and Stevie Camilleri were tightly marked and couldn’t produce their best performances in attack.

Jordan Camilleri opened the game with a goal in Neptunes’ first action. He doubled the lead in the second part of the session and after he was excluded in the next action, Valentino Gallo pulled one back for Sirens. The Italian left-hander equalised less than a minute later as Sirens showed their quality to equalise all of a sudden. But Darko Brguljan converted from a manup situation as Neptunes won the first session 3-2.

Neptunes proved their superiority in the second session and scored three goals in the first half of the second session. The goals came from Petar Muslim, Darko Brguljan and Jordan Camilleri. Sirens managed to stay in the game with two goals in the last minute before the break. Paul Privitera scored from a favourable position after Niki Lanzon was excluded and Gallo scored his third of the game 13 seconds from the end of the session.

Trailing 6-4, Sirens tried to react but after Gallo made it 6-5 from penalty, Stevie Camilleri regained the two-goal cushion. Gallo scored again from penalty after a foul by Matthias Azzopardi in the middle of the third session to keep his team in the game.

Petar Muslim had other plans as he scored in the beginning of the last session. This goal caught Sirens off guard and failed to react and mount consecutive threats to Alan Borg Cole. Youngster Nikolai Zammit closed the game a minute and 17 seconds from the end of the game.

Sirens: N. Grixti, J. Zerafa Gregory, C. Presciutti, P. Privitera (1), M. Grech, J. Brownrigg, I. Riolo, V. Gallo (5), J. Napier, E. Aquilina, L. Caruana, M. Sciberras, O. Gauci, Z. Bartolo, G. Farrugia

Neptunes: A. Borg Cole, N. Lanzon, K. Erdogan, G. Pace, P. Muslim (2), D. Brguljan (2), S. Camilleri (1), J. Camilleri (3), J. Abela, N. Zammit (1), J. Muscat, M. Azzopardi, B. Busuttil, S. Busuttil, J. Farrugia

Referees: Mario Dalli, Luca Castagnola

SLIEMA FRANK SALT EXILES ELIA CATERERS (2-2), (5-5), (5-4), (2-2) 14 13

Exiles Elia Caterers gave Sliema Frank Salt a tough ride but it wasn’t enough to snatch at least a point as they stayed bottom of the table with only a point. They showed signs of improvement but still are way off to repeat what they did last year. Sliema weren’t bad on the day but had other games where the performance was much better.

The first session concluded 2-2 after Exiles responded twice from Timothy Sullivan and Sean Xerri de Caro after Mark Meli and Norbert Hoznyansky had given Valletta twice the lead. After three minutes into the second session, Exiles had a 5-3 lead but Sliema scored twice in less than a minute from Mark Meli and Jamie Gambin.

Mark Fenech put Exiles again in the lead from a man-up situation but Sliema went 7-6 in the lead after goals by Norbert Hoznyansky and a penalty by Gavril Subotic, until Milos Vukicevic equalised in the last minute.

A brace by Jerome Gabarretta in the beginning of the third session gave Sliema some breathing space and Mark Meli scored from a man-up situation after Timothy Sullivan was excluded. Exiles kept believing and after they were 12-9 down, Jelaca scored twice in the last minute to keep Exiles in the game.

Jerome Gabarretta scored again in the beginning of a session and Nicholas Bugelli gave his team a three-goal advantage with less than three minute of play. Michele Stellini reduced the margin and Vukicevic scored again in their last action which still wasn’t enough.

Sliema: J. Parnis, J. Gabarretta (3), G. Subotic (2), J. Sciberras, M. Meli (3), N. Hoznyansky (2), M. Spiteri Staines (2), L. Galea, B. Cachia, J. Gambin (1), Z. Mizzi, N. Bugelli, M. Vassallo, J. Cachia, K. Borg

Exiles: M. Castillo, M. Stellini (2), A. Magri, M. Jelaca (2), T. Sullivan (2), S. Xerri de Caro (1), M. Fenech (2), K. Griscti, M. Vukicevic (3), A. Cousin (2), N. Paris, P. Paris, M. Martin, S. Apap, C. von Brockdorf

Referees: Neptunes Sliema Sirens

San Ġiljan Marsaxlokk Exiles Valletta Birżebbuġa Marsaskala Otters

Ta’ Xbiex Peter Balzan, Antonio Guarracino

P9 9 9 8 8 9

P6 6 6 7 7

Photos: Domenic Aquillina