Various matches from the men’s and ladies categories of the Ghaqda Kittieba Sports cup were played last weekend. In the men’s section, Aloysians Lipton beat Fleur de Lys FEB 3-2 thus reaching the final of this cup while Marsascala lost to Aloysians Reds. In the ladies category, Paola Hibs Candy beat X-Sel 3-0 and an experienced Flyers team won against Aloysians Reds. In the under 18 category, Flyers beat Kerygma 2-0.
In the ladies section, Flyers beat Playvolley Reds 3-0. The more experienced Flyers, ably coached by Steve Farrugia and Edward Gatt, found little opposition from the younger Aloysians team who still managed to give an acceptable performance.
Playvolley Blues beat Kerygma 3-0 where Playvolley’s experience made the difference between the two sides. Kerygma managed to keep up with a stronger Playvolley side by losing the first set by seven points and the second set by eight points. However there was no story in the third and final set as Playvolley dominated and easily won the set 25-14.
The final match in the ladies category saw champions Paola Hibs Candy play against last year’s runners-up X-Sel. Unfortunately this game totally failed to take off as it was characterised by a number of errors from both teams. Hibs eventually won the match 3-0 but this score does not give X-Sel the credit they deserve for giving the champions such a hard time.
This weekend sees Flyers play against Playvolley Blue for a place in the semi-finals of this competition. The winner of this match will face X-Sel for a berth in the final, against Paola Hibs Candy.
In the men’s category, Marsascala faced Aloysians Reds in a game that promised to be an interesting one. The match ended with the score of 3-2 in favour of Aloysians Reds with both teams playing it all out until the very end.
Aloysians started well with Marsascala finding it difficult to play as a team. In the second set, Aloysians took a good advantage of 17-14 but Marsascala crept in point by point and managed to take the set 25-19. The third was very close and ended in Marsascala’s favour. However, Alosyians managed to win the fourth set 25-22 and forced this game into a decider which Alosyians won 15-11.
The match of the weekend was definitely played between Fleur de Lys FEB and Aloysians Lipton. The match ended in a 3-2 score line in favour of Aloysians Lipton. Fleur de Lys raced off to a brilliant start by winning the first two sets 25-19 and 25-17.
One must praise Kevin Spiteri who despite not having the opportunity to play often last season, when called upon last Sunday, he delivered an excellent performance. A spirited Patrick Bonnet together with the unstoppable Jonathan Chetcuti gave FEB a comfortable lead.
However Aloysians were not to be put down so easily. With the help of their new signing, ex Fleur de Lys setter Karl Soler, they won the third set 25-18 and played their best volleyball so far by winning the fourth set 25-22. This forced the match into the deciding fifth set.
Aloysians based their attacks on the experience of setter Owen Spiteri and the two teams battled till the very end with both sides mounting impressive attacks. Aloysians, with David Caruana and Paul Vella in their best form, won the final set 15-13. Aloysians are now in the final and will play the winner of the match between Kerygma and Aloysians Red.
Next weekend, Aloysians Red play against favourites Kerygma and the winner will face Fleur de Lys FEB on Sunday.
In the under 18 section, Flyers won against Kerygma 2-0. The match started off very balanced with both teams making the most of their respective capabilities.
Kerygma was leading during this set but an impressive series of eight consecutive services from Rachel Cachia gave this set to Flyers. The second set was completely controlled by Flyers as Kerygma seemed to lose faith in their capabilities.