Stung by their Super Cup defeat by Sliema, last weekend, Luxol returned for their first league game, and overwhelmed Qormi, making sure in the first two sessions. Qormi were having a hard time, but complacency set in on Luxol’s part, and this helped Qormi to avoid a heavier defeat.

Luxol opened up with an Alan Borg trey, but then play went on till nearly mid-session, before we had a Qormi reply, through the returning Adrian Baldacchino, who missed their previous game. Steve Schembri then sank another trey for the Violets, as they went on a good 17-2 run, which they dragged on till the end of the quarter,

Luxol didn’t rest on their laurels in the second session, and a 10-0 run, with more treys by Steve Schembri and Alan Borg, opened up their good lead further. Qormi made a reaction, but they were still being pressed by a determined Luxol side, who notched up another long run, a 17-0 one this time, which included two more treys by Robert Azzopardi, and another Borg long one. Dirk Schembri pitched in with half a dozen personal points. With less than a second to go till the the interval Roberto Formosa broke the sequence with a couple of free shots. Score at 47-9, highlighting Luxol’s dominance.

After the break Luxol’s game lost its co-ordination, and became more individualistic. Qormi took the opportunity to share the play, with Sam Farrugia in the thick of things. Antoine Grech sank a trey for Qormi, closely followed by Alan Borg, with his fourth, for Luxol. Qormi ended the session with a series of free throws, for a 61-26 score, with a quarter to go.

Play was still energetic, but the points dwindled down, for the first part of the session. Their young players were given their moment, amidst constant changing from both benches. Luxol recovered at the end, to post a 10-0 run in the last stages, after Qormi’s last points, through a Reuben Baldacchino trey.

LUXOL: 4 C. Sammut, 4 M. Mercieca, 8 R. Azzopardi, M. Micallef, 16 A. Borg, M. Portera, C. Pulis, 14 D. Schembri, E. Caruana Montaldo, 13 J. Jetson, 16 S. Schembri

QORMI: 2 W. Grixti, 6 A, Grech, 1 K. Scicluna, 7 S. Farrugia, A. Camilleri, 2 JP Azzopardi, 2 R. Formosa, 4 J. Dalli, 3 R. Baldacchino, C. Bugeja, 2 S. Grech, 5 A. Baldacchino

REFEREES: Bernard Vassallo, Gordon Barbara, Emanuel Mangani