Qormi Kia 72
Mellieha 48
(13-3, 18-11, 19-16, 22-18)
Qormi accompanied Mosta into the final of the Shield with a handsome win over Mellieha, in a game, which found two sides making many mistakes, but Qormi had the better staying power to make the game their own.
The game had a very quiet start, with both sides taking time to settle down. Qormi then drew ahead to lay the path for their victory, as they ran up a useful 12-3 break in the second session, to go clear and enjoy a good 31-14 lead at the interval.
After the break, the game started to even out and both sides had patches of their own. Qormi managed to increase their lead, but Mellieha had a good ending to the third session, with an 8-2 run, but were still 30-50 down with a session to go.
The standard of play fell down as players were too individualistic but frequent substitutions brought back the points, with Qormi far enough ahead not to have any problems.
Qormi: 26 Antoine Grech, 16 Keith Scicluna
Mellieha: 12 Robert Loporto.
Referees: Emanuel Mangani, Alfred Carbonaro,
Mosta 64
SN Suns Bell Med 59
(10-19, 15-3, 23-22, 16-15)
This was a good, well-fought first semi-final as Mosta booked their place in the final.
Suns, who lost Gordon Bugeja on a long-term injury, had a good start with penetrating play and a good finish to the first session, going on a nine-point lead.
But the champions hit them heavily in the second session as Mosta produced an 8-0 run ending with a Karl Fabri trey to take a 25-22 lead by the interval.
After the break, Vince Spiteri started sinking his treys for Suns as they tied the game but Mosta had a flurry of free shots in a 10-0 run and took a 40-29 lead.
Suns came back again as Norbert Borg came off the bench to make his treys.
With a session to go, it was a 48-44 match.
In the final quarter, Mosta inched further ahead, gaining ground at 59-47 but Suns made a 10-0 run to go just a hoop down. However, it was not enough and free shots enabled Mosta to extend their lead at the end, to finish winners.
Mosta: 20 – Steve Gouder, 15 – Mark Spiteri, 14 – Ray Muscat;
Suns: 15 – Vince Spiteri.
Refs: Bernard Vassallo, Emanuel Mangani