Neptunes Vodafone 18
San Giljan Zara 4
(2-0, 5-2, 6-0, 5-2)
Neptunes regained sole leadership in the table when they registered their fifth league win and their second over neighbours San Giljan (17-5 in the first round). Just like the first round, this was a clear cut victory with Steve Camilleri again, similar to the first game, scoring a big six-goal tally.
The first six minutes were quite a balanced affair as the Saints, having Matthew Zammit missing in the line-up, managed to neutralise Neptunes’ offensive ploys. San Giljan’s last appearance was more than a month ago when they managed to beat the more fancied Sliema 6-5.
The deadlock was broken in the 7th minute through Edward Cachia’s first league goal. The reds increased the lead less than 30 seconds later when their top scorer Steve Camilleri notched his first strike on the day.
Throughout the second session Neptunes started making sure of the win, to also partially annul last week’s loss against Sliema, with Cachia’s second and captain Niki Lanzon's goal in the third minute making it 4-0.
The Saints, where much more was expected after their showings at the end of the first round, did notch two goals in this session through Keith Grima Scott and Tony Galea but midway in the game the score was 7-2 with Camilleri registering his hat-trick and Michele Stellini making his mark with a strong diagonal shot.
The third session ended with a 6-0 scoreline for the Balluta side who were displaying a higher level of physical preparation. Four of the goals were obtained on a man-up situation with Matthew Pisani scoring twice whilst youngsters John Brownrig Sean Gravina scored the first and last goal of the session respectively.
Neptunes continued scoring in the last session to make them eleven in a row to an 18-2 score with Lanzon and Cachia scoring a hat-trick whilst Camilleri had six personal goals and continued to show his great potential.
The game ended with San Giljan getting two consolation gaols through Gale and Grima Scott on man-ups.
Neptunes: N. Gouder, N. Lanzon 3, R Mock, K. Farrugia, E. Cachia 3, J. Brownrigg 1, S. Camilleri 6, L. Attard, D. Camilleri, S. Gravina 1, R. Sciortino, M. Stellini 2, M. Pisani 2.
San Giljan : D. Camilleri, K. Lanzon, A. Galea 2, C. Bonello, G. Ghirxi, A. Borda, I. Azzopardi, M. Pace, T. Debono, S. Borg, J. Scerri de Caro, K. Grima Scott 2.
Refs: M. Dalli, M. Caruana
Sliema Burger King 13
Marsaxlokk Freeport 5
(4-1, 4-1, 2-1, 3-2)
Sliema registered a double over modest Marsaxlokk after their 16-4 win in the first round.
There was no doubt over the Blues’ (fresh from their 11-8 win over rivals Neptunes last week) superiority even though they did not exert total pressure over their opponents throughout the encounter.
By midway in the match, Sliema were already 8-2 ahead and then easily administered the last 16 minutes of the game.
The winners’ top scorer in this year’s campaign, John Soler, grabbed a hat-trick similar to Clint Debono whilst Edward Aquilina and Francescco Cutajar scored a brace respectively.
On the opposite end, Alan Farrugia joined team-mate Simon Cachia on seven goals so far in the league when he managed to find Sliema's net on two occasions.
Sliema: J. Cachia, C. Gialanze, E. Aquilina 2, M. Manara, M. Meli 1, J. Soler 3, D. Paolella, M. Rizzo 1, C. Debono 3, F. Cutajar 2, R. Scerri, A. Bianchi 1, R. Coleiro.
Marsaxlokk: R. Bonnici, S. Cachia 1, R. Calleja, A. Farrugia 2, N. Kerr 1, C. Bugeja 1, C. Jones, S. Cutajar, E. Pisani, F. testa, D. Debono, J. Vella, D. Cassar, M. Fava.
Refs: M. Angileri P. Giordano