Sliema Burger King 5

Sirens 2X 5

(2-0, 2-1 0-1, 1-3)

Sliema: J. Cachia, D. Paolella, E. Aquilina 2, M. Galea Pace, M. Meli 1, J. Soler, J. Paris 1, K. Engerer, C. Debono, F. Cutajar 1, R. Coleiro, N. Falzon, A. Bianchi.

Sirens: J. Caruana Dingli, A. Grech, J. Rizzo Naudi, K. Rizzo Naudi, C. Cauchi, J. Valletta 3, J. Borg, D. Cutajar, K. Montfort, C. Zammit 2, C. Mercieca, R. Attard, N. Cassar.

Refs: D. Di Meo, P. Balzan

Sliema seemed to be cruising to a win as they scored early in the final session to go 5-2 in the lead. Yet Jonathan Valletta sprung up as the clear leader for Sirens as he took over the responsibility to launch a late comeback which duly arrived and could have even resulted in a win for the St. Paul's Bay side as Sliema lost all their initial composure and supremacy.

Sliema, incited also by a band, opened a 2-0 lead after the first session. The two sides were very attentive for each other's actions but the champions looked a very different side from their sloppy performance against M'Scala.

John Paris set an example for his teammates when he opened the score after two and a half minutes with a powerful shot that surprised Joe Caruana Dingli.

Zone defence was the rule on both ends and few balls were played in the respective centres as both teams resorted to distance shots.

Thrity seven seconds from the session's end Mark Meli increased Sliema's morale with the champions' second goal on the day with a precise 5 metre shot.

The Blues increased their lead to 3-0 when Francesco Cutajar beat Caruana Dingli with a low diagonal shot to his right in the third minute in the second session.

However just 27 seconds afterwards Sirens finally opened their account through Charles Zammit.

In the following instances Sirens seemed gearing up but Josie Cachia effectively thwarted off two close range shots.

A fine display of a collective effort in defence led to a steal by Sliema and they immediately broke clear through Edward Aquilina who managed to beat the session's buzzer by two seconds as he coolly slid the ball beneath Caruana Dingli for a 4-1 scoreline at the change of ends.

The third session was a tight affair with both sides opting for distance shots faced by zone defences on both sides of the pitch. Clint Debono was put in the water and one augurs a good comeback for this talented player after his serious injury.

There was only a single goal in these eight minutes when Zammit scored with a bounce shot with Meli excluded. This was the only goal from both sides in man-ups as Sirens ended with one from four whilst Sliema, following a one on nine against M'Scala, failed to make good use of three man-ups they won in the game.

Many believed the game was as good as over when Aquilina made it 5-2 just 57 seconds into the final session as up till then Sliema looked psychologically superior.

Yet Jonathan Valletta had other thoughts and he quickly replied for 5-3 just 18 seconds after Sliema's fifth goal. This was just the start as just 40 seconds later Valletta hit again, this time with a scorcher from over eight metres to make it a one-goal game.

After chances from both sides, with Sirens now looking sharper than their opponents, the score became 5-5 when 85 seconds from the end, Clint Mercieca gave a precise assist to Valletta who just had to outstretch his hands to place the ball in the net.

Division Two

Ta' Xbiex M. P. 5

Valletta F. R. 7

(0-1, 3-1, 1-2, 1-3)

Ta' Xbiex: A. Tanti, G. Attard, A. Fero, K. Sciortino 1, C. D'Ugo 1, D. Dowling, J. Dimech, D. Schembri 3, P. Paolella, S. Balzan, P. Widowson, C. Sciortino, P. Dimech.

Valletta: E. Arrigo, G. Sammut 2, Mau. Camilleri, Marco Camilleri, D. Degiorgio, D. Saliba, A. Galea 1, J. Farrugia, D. Shaw, C. Saliba 1, P.Bonnici, M. Zammit 3, E. Pisani.

Refs: M. Angileri, M. Caruana

Valletta made amends to the narrow first round defeat, 9-10, against Ta' Xbiex by registering their third seasonal win and jumping to second place in the standings behind leading couple San Giljan and Exiles.

Veteran Mario Zammit scored a hat-trick including the game's only goal in the first session.

Ta' Xbiex replied with three consecutive goals (Duncan Schembri also had three goals but was later sent off for good) but the score was tied at four apiece at the end of the third session.

After a Zammit brace, the same player was judged to be restrained during a penalty and Giorgio Sammut scored the retake for the final score of 7-5 with Ta' Xbiex missing also a late penalty.

Exiles RMF 7

Marsaxlokk Freeport 2

(3-0, 1-0, 2-0, 1-2)

Exiles: J. Cuschieri, M. Grima, M. Zarb, A. Bianchi, T. Sullivan 1, K. Camilleri, G. Buttigieg, J. Cremona 3, J. Tabone 1, A. Arrigo, J. Vella, W. Privitera, M. Calleja 2.

Marsaxlokk: R. Bonnici, S. Cachia, R. Calleja 1, A. Farrugia, N. Kerr, C. Bugeja, C. Jones, S. Cutajar, K. Incorvaja, M. Fava, D. Cassar 1, M. Cutajar, G. Zammit.

Refs: I. Sciriha, P. Giordano

Exiles easily kept their pace with fellow neighbours San Giljan at the top of the standings when they beat southerners M'Xlokk in a low scoring match but which was always in control of Dirk Dowling's lads especially after ending the first session 3-0 ahead.

The Blues, who had a hat-trick from Joe Cremona, were 6-0 in the lead at the start of the last session. Martin Calleja had a brace with the other coming from Timmy Sullivan. These two players are joint top scorers for the team with 14 each.

Finally M'Xlokk managed to find the net through two consecutive goals by Ramon Calleja and the first seasonal goal from Duncan Cassar.