In their last official outing in the 2007 league, Sirens managed to get the better of San Giljan

Sirens opened a 2-0 lead after 8 minutes of effective play scoring in their first and last offensive ploys respectively in the first session. Paul Fava beat his defensive cover in the centre and slid the ball behind Schembri after 51 seconds and then Hungarian Tamas Mercx made it 2-0, with 8 seconds from the session’s final horn, after an intelligent assist from J. Borg.

After missing an initial man-up with Grech saving well off De Barro, San Giljan managed equalise by the 14th minute. Serb stalwart Marco Cuk scored with a powerful shot off a free throw and then Clyde Bonello, from the right, made it 2-2 on Rizzo Naudi’s second exclusion.

The change of ends saw Sirens again leading by two goals as they netted two late goals in the second session. Mercx scored a spectacular goal with a diagonal back-hand from the right and then Charles Zammit made it 4-2 just a second from the end of the session with a low bounce shot to Schembri’s right.

The Saints had a good start in the session as they equalised once again after another 2-0 run. Claudio Spiteri de Barro beat Grech with a nice back-hand shot from the centre and then, less than 30 seconds later, Silvio Borg scored on a Borg exclusion following also a time-out by the saints’ coach Ian Azzopardi.

Despite Sirens replied, almost immediately, with a delicate David Cutajar lob, San Giljan again managed to bring the score at-par when Silvio Borg again scored a man-up goal, this time with Cutajar excluded, when he slid the ball in the saints’ net off a rebound after a Grech save off a Galea attempt.

Sirens broke clear of their opponents in the last minutes of the third session when they had a 3-0 run starting with a Jurgen Borg brace and a further goal from Mercx for a 9-6 lead a session from the end.

Two early goals, early in the final session, put Sirens’ mind to rest. Karl Montfort got his first of three when he found open space on the right and then Mercx scored his nap-hand with a precise shot to the top right hand corner.

Although Cuk tried to infuse some spirit in the saints’ clan with his hat-trick, Sirens moved on with another two goals from Montfort.

In the last 2 minutes of play de Barro registered his brace and then his team mate John Xerri de Caro stole the ball and coolly put the ball in the Sirens net a second from time. In between these two San Giljan goals, Sirens’ youngster Peter Borg beat Schembri with a fine shot.

Sirens: A. Grech, P. Fava 1, T. Mercx 5, P. Privitera, J. Rizzo Naudi, P. Borg 1, J. Borg 2, D. Cutajar 1, K. Montfort 3, C. Zammit 1, C. Mercieca, R. Attard, E. Arrigo.

San Giljan: K. Schembri, C. Spiteri de Barro 2, A. Galea, C. Bonello 1, E. Cachia, M. Cuk 3, M. Pace, D. Camilleri, A. Borda, S. Borg 2, J. Xerri de Caro 1, K. Lanzon.

Refs: L. Bianco, A. Deraffaele

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Marsaxlokk FP 18

Otters ASC 8

(4-2, 2-2, 4-3, 8-1)

Marsaxlokk did not miss the opportunity to end their league commitments with another win over Gozitan side Otters so as to join Ta’ Xbiex (thanks also to their direct win over the same opponents last week) in a final joint third place in the standings on 9 points.

Led by a motivated Sergey Frolov, Marsaxlokk finished with a ten goal margin which really materialised in the final session after Otters had managed to stay two goals away till the 18th minute at 7-5.

Frolov, in fact, scored an impressive eleven personal goals so as to equal Marsascala’s Italian import Fabio Valenti’s record this season. The Belorussian had a fine start netting his side’s four goals in the first session, including a penalty.

M’Xlokk: A. Sammut, G. Attard, R. Calleja, A. Farrugia 2, K. Farrugia 1, C. Bugeja, E. Pisani 2, D. Schembri, S. Frolov 11, K. Grima Scott 1, G. Ghirxi, N. Agius 1, R. Bonnici.

Otters: E. Farrugia, D. Saliba, G. Zammit 3, S. Grech 1, S. Cutajar, D. Saliba, P. Saliba, K. Mizzi, L. Cachia 2, C. Saliba 1, T. Simon 1, G. Xuereb, S. Xerri.

Refs: R. Spiteri, M. Caruana.