NEPTUNES LEO VEGAS............ 8
SAN ĠILJAN TUM INVEST........ 9
(3-1), (1-1), (2-2), (1-3), (1-1), (0-1)

The resilience of San Ġiljan TUM Invest to hold on to their title won last season proved to be decisive as they took the game to extra time and finally beat Neptunes Leo Vegas to take the title contention to a much awaited decider that will surely attract a bigger crowd than the one we had today.

The lead in the second session of extra-time was the only occasion in which San Ġiljan were in the lead. They had chased their opponents for the whole game and at times were three goals behind Neptunes. The third personal foul for Jordan Camilleri in the third session, was a big blow to Neptunes as they lost their sharpness in defence that they had till that time. San Giljan also lost Matthew Zammit in the final quarter.

Neptunes started the match on a hig, taking a deserved 3-0 lead as things were looking to be heading their way. Andreas Galea scored an important goal, both for him but also for San Giljan as the champions were building their confidence back.

San Ġiljan were better in defence in the second session and also reacted from Paulo Obradovic, after Stevie Camilleri had partially made it 4-1. After the restart, Neptunes established a three-goal lead again with a brilliant lob over Jake Tanti.

But San Ġiljan reacted and after Matthew Zammit reduced the gap, Dino Zammit made it 5-4, taking advantage from a man-down situation after Jordan Camilleri was excluded for the third time. In the next action, Neptunes won a man-up after Peter Borg was sent off, and Gabriel Pace assured that his team starts the last session two goals ahead.

It was the time for Andreas Galea to shine as Neptunes looked weakened, while the number three of San Ġiljan scored twice both from man-ups to equalise. But 40 seconds later, their captain Matthew Zammit was sent off and left his team, while Neptunes were awarded a penalty. Stevie Camilleri made no mistake as now Neptunes were three minutes away from securing the league.

Paul Fava equalised again and both teams failed to score the last attacks of regular time, which ended 7-7.

Neptunes started the extra time on a high with a goal by Petar Muslim in their first attack, but San Ġiljan's response came in the final eight seconds of the first period, this time from Dino Zammit.

The decisive goal came with two minutes and eight seconds left. Ben Plumpton advanced from a counter-attack and was judged to be fouled by Gabriel Pace. Croatian Paulo Obradovic scored from the penalty to send his team in the lead for the first time in the game, a lead they held on till the end.

The game was a nail-biting affair and in their last action, Paulo Obradovic was sent off and Stevie Camilleri took the shot and scored but the goal was disallowed, among the several protests from Neptunes especially their coach Popovic.

The decisive encounter will be played on Sunday, before the two teams meet again in the knock-out final on Tuesday.

Neptunes: A. Borg Cole, N. Lanzon (2), K. Erdogan, G. Pace (2), P. Muslim (1), N. Zammit, S. Camilleri (2), J. Camilleri (1), J. Abela, M. Zammit, J. Muscat, M. Azzopardi, J. Parnis

San Ġiljan: J. Tanti, P. Borg, A. Galea (3), B. Grech, C. Farrugia, M. Zammit (1), B. Plumpton, Da. Zammit, T. Said, P. Obradovic (2), P. Fava (1), D. Zammit (2), T. Micallef

Referees: Mario Dalli, Luca Bianco

 

SIRENS GREENTUBE............... 8
SLIEMA FRANK SALT............. 13
(1-4), (2-3), (3-5), (2-1)

Sliema Frank Salt ended the season on a positive note as they eased past Sirens Greentube for the second time in a few days to assure themselves of finishing third. For a club of the stature of Sliema it is a disappointing result, but as things progressed it was the most that they could have get.

Sirens were no match for their opponents again, and ended up in fourth place, a step down when compared to last season. Surely their best games were against San Ġiljan in the league play-offs but taking the season as a whole, they failed to reach their expectations.

Sliema had a flying start to the game, taking a 4-1 lead as they looked better than their opponents. The Blues continued to increase the advantage gradually and ended up the second session 7-3 in front. Zach Mizzi scored right at the end to give his team a comfortable four-goal advantage.

The match looked similar to the first encounter, and after the break, Sliema made sure of the win with two goals from Michael Cordina and Jerome Gabarretta in the middle of the third session as Sliema had a 9-3 advantage.

Sliema took their foot off the accelerator for a while and permitted Sirens to limit the damage as they scored three times to the other two goals of Sliema. But Jerome Gabarretta scored with 39 seconds to spare to give Sliema a 12-6 lead before the start of the last session.

The last session was a formality as Sirens managed to at least win a session which wasn't enough to save the match.

Sirens: N. Grixti, P. Privitera, E. Aquilina (1), N. Bicari (1), M. Grech (1), I. Riolo (2), C. Mercieca, J. Sciberras, J. Napier, L. Grech Carr, L. Caruana (1), J. Brownrigg (2), A. Bugeja

Sliema: J. Sammut, J. Gabarretta (4), C. Presciutti (3), J. Saliba (1), M. Meli, K. Dowling, M. Spiteri Staines (1), D. Fenech, M. Cordina (1), J. Gambin (1), Z. Mizzi (2), N. Bugelli, Z. Sciberras

Referees: Ronnie Spiteri, Gianluca Centineo