Ta’ Zirbi United have won the Coca Cola Zero Tour 2008 after beating Dry Zone in the final match 3-2 on penalties.
The match was very intense and the players showed a lot of skill and agility. Within a beach lifestyle atmosphere, those present assisted to an entertaining style of play, with players forced to improvise with moments of spectacular individual flair.
After two goal-less sessions, the Zirbis went ahead from a penalty kick scored by Aldrin Muscat after an infringement of play (Play Hot) between the Dry Zone goalkeeper an a defender left the referee with no other option apart from that of awarding a penalty kick to Ta’ Zirbi United.
Dry Zone had a good come back and this was futile to them as an other penalty was whistled this time in their favour, from which they equalised with Jason Attard beating Jonathan Azzopardi from the spot.
The match ended in a 1-1 draw and three minutes of extra time were given. No other goal was scored and the issue had to be decided from the penalty spot. Both teams had three opportunities each, with Ta’ Zirbi United scoring twice and Dry Zone once.
Earlier during the afternoon and from the ladies’ category, Birkirkara defeated the Golden Girls by 6-1 and were crowned champions in their respective category. With such a result, the Birkirkara girls managed to end their commitments unbeaten.
The Masters’ Match included various ex-national team players and current technical staff from the Ta’ Qali Technical Centre, namely Dusan Fitzel, Michael Stritz, Pierre Brincat, Mark Marlow and Charles Sciberras.
The Tour ended with the presentaton of Awards, awarded as follows and speeches from Davinia Pule (GSD representative), Bertie Muscat (KMS Vice-Chairman), Robert Cutajar (Mellieha Mayor) and Mark Marlow and Bjorn Vassallo from MBA Sports World.
Male Category Awards
Winners: Ta’ Zirbi United
Runners-Up: Dry Zone
Third Place: Oasis Melita Boys
Fair Play Award: Betfair
Best Player Award: Rashid Salem Nagim - Ta’ Zirbi United
Best Goalkeeper: Roderick Camilleri - Dry Zone
Best Veteran Player: Emmanuel Vella - Beach Warriors
Top Scorer Award: Aldrin Muscat - 12 goals - Ta’ Zirbi United
Female Category Awards
Winners: Birkirkara
Runners-Up: Golden Girls
Third Place: Naughty Dolphins
Best Player Award: Rachel Cuschieri -B’kara
Best Goalkeeper Award: Michelle Zahra - Birkirkara
Top Scorer Award: Eleonora Agliano - 10 goals - Birkirkara
Beach handball tournament
The tour also featured Beach Handball, played on two days, the tournament offered a good level of play. The nine participating teams encourage the Malta Handball Association to continue promoting this sport both during the winter season and now with the help of the Tour also during the summer season.
MBA Sports World, the organisers of this year’ s edition of the Tour, thanked the Malta Sports Council and the Mellieha Local Council for their contribution towards the staging of the event, the General Soft Drinks Co. Ltd. as main sponsors of the Tour, and all other sponsors and media partners.