Sirens ASC Valletta United 13-5 (3-1), (2-1), (5-0), (3-3)
The prediction before the game would give an indication of a balanced affair between these two teams. But Sirens had other plans as they brushed aside Valletta with a very positive 13-5 win. Sirens were almost faultless in their play, starting from the beginning of the game with concentration that caught off guard Valletta.
Coach Sergio Afric made his official return in the Summer League after leaving Malta a couple of years ago. But his touch in Maltese waterpolo is still there as he is spear heading these youngsters to their gradual improvement.
The choice of Christian Presciutti as their foreigner is already proving to be again a wise decision.
On the other side, it was not the start that Valletta planned as they are looking to finish as high as possible. Serbian Boris Vapenski made his debut for Valletta but didn’t leave his mark in the game as he was tightly marked.
Sirens were already 2-0 in front after two minutes, and this cushion permitted them to be one step ahead of their opponents. Cordina cancelled the third goal of Riolo to finish the session 3-1. Andrea Agius scored the second goal of Valletta in the second session but Presciutti and Sciberras made sure to leave their team with a three-goal advantage ahead of the break.
The game looked to be heading in the way of Sirens. Valletta were expected to react in order to stay in the game, but this was not the case as Sirens took advantage from the space left in Valletta’s defence with some identical goals, scoring five goals with no reply and securing the win as they opened up a 102 gap.
The last eight minutes were a formality, and the game was more open as no team was going to lose or gain something. Valletta looked to at least reducing the deficit, but a goal by Jacob Sciberras 0.1 seconds from the end of the game, made sure that the margin would still be of eight goals.
Sirens: N. Grixti, J. Zerafa Gregory, C. Presciutti (5), J. Sciberras (3), M. Grech, I. Riolo (1), J. Ciantar, D. Cutajar (2), J. Napier, J. Brownrigg (2), L. Caruana, O. Gauci, C. Mercieca
Valleta: R. Sciortino, J. Spiteri Staines, A. Agius (1), M. Rizzo (1), M. Fenech, R. Mock, D. Paolella (1), N. Bonello Ghio, M. Cordina (1), B. Vapenski, K. Galea, D. Fenech (1), F. Buhagiar
Marsaxlokk secure their first win
Otters Nivea Marsaxlokk Fischer 8-12 (1-2), (0-5), (3-4), (4-1)
No surprises in the first game of the first division, as Champions Marsaxlokk Fischer emerged as clear winners against Gozitan side Otters Nivea, finishing the game with a clear four-goal margin.
The result might indicate a different scenario, but Marsaxlokk dominated the affair and secured the three points after the second session.
Marsaxlokk continued to build on their win against Marsascala in the Sports Journalists Cup, but like Saturday’s game, the performance wasn’t five-star and surely there’s more to come from Polacek’s team.
Otters brought out some positives from the game as their foreigner Marko Jelava as expectedly, proved to be their lethal weapon with five goals.
The team was under the guidance of Hungarian coach Erik Valter in his first game in the Maltese league.
Marsaxlokk had to sweat to take the lead in the first session winning only 2-1 while they missed two penalties after two great saves from youngster Matthew Xerri.
But the following session proved to have a different story as Marsaxlokk scored five consecutive goals to finish the session before the break 7-1 in front.
Considering the strength of both teams and the result at that time, the game was practically finished and more space was given to the fringe players in the teams.
Veteran Karl Galea stole the show in the third session with a hat-trick while Jelaca scored a brace for Otters.
Valter’s team managed to make the score more respectable in the last session, scoring four goals against the one by Galea, reducing the deficit to four goals.
M. Xerri, A. Magri, M. Borg Millo, L. Hyzler (2), E. Meli (1), D. Dimech, G. Mizzi, M. Jelaka (5), M. Paris, C. Zammit, M. Borg, C. Teuma
A. Xuereb, C. Spiteri Debarro (3), L. Calleja (1), K. Galea (5), C. Gialanze (1), C. Bugeja, S. Meli, I. Vuksanovic (1), M. Cacici, R. Scerri (1), K. Lanzon, L. Gialanze, R. Bonnici
Luca Iacovelli, Stefan Licari