Neptunes Vodafone 4

Sliema McDonalds 4

(2-2, 0-0, 1-1, 1-1)

The derby between Sliema and Neptunes, watched by a good crowd clad respectively in red and blue, resulted in a stalemate and a game which definitely lacked goals but surely not intensity and rivalry.

The reigning champions stood more to gain from this result as they maintained a 2-point lead over their arch rivals and are now 3 points clear of Sirens.

Next week’s match between Neptunes and Siresn will be hghly important as Sirens cannot afford to lose or else they will be out of the title race whilst Neptunes cannot drop points or else their lead over Sliema might be reduced, always if the blues do not lose again against San Giljan.

A minute and a half into the game David Camilleri found an empty lane on the left and beat Cachia to open the score in this eagerly awaited derby.

The Reds, who once again had to do without centreman Karl Galea who is reported to be out on a long-term injury, made it 2-0 a minute later when Michele Stellini shot accurately in the right corner. Neptunes however missed on a Valletta man-up shortly afterwards.

Edward Aquilina notched Sliema’s first when his diagonal shot off the left post just crossed the imaginary line.

Both sides then missed a respective man-up (Aquilina for the Blues and Brownrigg for the Reds being excluded temporarily) before the Blues equalised, late in the sixth minute) through a fine effort in the centre by Mark Meli who overcame S. Camilleri’s defensive efforts to stop him.

The second session resulted in no goal being netted by both sides as the tension started to rise demonstrating clearly the importance of this match for both sides.

There was also a respective goal on both ends being disallowed as the referees judged for a 2-metre violation by the player who put the ball into the net.

A double man-up (with Paolella and Debono being excluded almost together) was not converted by Neptunes.

After a barren 15 minutes of goals, Sliema managed to score once again as Clint Debono beat Gouder with just one second remaining on the shot clock for the blues.

Seconds after the restart the same Debono was excluded and David Camilleri, almost 17 minutes from Neptunes’ second goal, equalised for 3-3.

Before the session’s end Neptunes committed a blatant turnover on a Varga man-up. The session’s end was quite lively as Steve Camilleri got out of the water and protested vividly with blood dripping from his cheek. In fact Camilleri was then seen to by the Neptunes’ doctor, who incidentally is his father, and did not take part again in this much contested derby.

Chances were not lacking in the last session but goals still remained scarce. Gouder effected a good save from a Valletta, guarded by D. Camilleri, close range effort from the centre whilst on the opposite end, Rizzo opted for a double cover on the right flank and Brownrigg was left alone but the latter missed on two attempts with Cachia splendidly stopping the first shot and the left post denying Brownrigg a second later.

Exactly midway into the last session Slieme won a penalty when Stellini was judged by Italian referee Rovida to have fouled Aquilina and Hungarian Tamas Varga put Sliema again in the lead, 4-3, with a powerful shot to the left corner.

Seconds later, on a Rizzo man-up, Cachia once again denied Neptunes although the latter managed to equalise, 110 seconds from the end, with a Matthew Pisani shot to Cachia’s left.

Both sides pressed for an eventual winner but this was not to be so that the points were shared by these two rivals with Neptunes gaining the most from this result.

Neptunes: N. Gouder, N. Lanzon, J. Camilleri, M. Stellini 1, J. Brownrigg, V. Vujasinovic, S. Camilleri, L. Attard, D. Camilleri 2, S. Gravina, R. Sciortino, G. Sammut, M. Pisani 1.

Sliema: J. Cachia, C. Gialanze, E. Aquilina 1, M. Rizzo, M. Meli 1, J. Soler, T. Varga 1, J. Valletta, C. Debono 1, F. Cutajar, D. Paolella, A. Bianchi, R. Coleiro.

Refs: A. Rovida, I. Sciriha.

Exiles PG 13

Ta’ Xbiex MP 13

(3-4, 5-3, 4-1, 1-5)

This highly entertaining match between two teams who where sharing the top spot with Marsascala ended in a draw with a total of 26 goals shared between the teams.

This was the first draw of the season for both sides as Exiles looked set for an important victory but Ta’ Xbiex made an excellent recovery in the last session to salvage a point.

Exiles: N. Imbroll, K. Rizzo Naudi, M. Zarb 1, D. Pace Lupi 1, T. Sullivan, G. Desira Buttigieg, J. Paris 2, J. Cremona, K. Griscti, A. Cousin 8, A. Arrigo, A. Borg Cole, M. Calleja 1.

Ta’ Xbiex: A. tanti, A. Bianchi, M. Manara 1, M. Galea Pace 2, C. D’Ugo, K. Sciortino, M. Camilleri, R. Polacik 5, J. Tabone, K. Engerer, P. Paolella 1, J. Vella 1, D. Pisani 3.

Refs: A. Deraffaele, M. Caruana