This was the first ever meeting these two sides, with St James making their top echelon debut last week, forcing Siggiewi into overtime. This time they went one better, handing the champions an early seasonal defeat, and also gaining a precious top division win. The Violets already had a shock against Depiro, in their first match, being dragged into overtime. This time their inaccuracies were punished by the alert Saints' outfit.
The champions went quickly into a 5-0 lead, and althouth the Saints had a reply, Bupa went 12-5 in front. St James produced some fine form, and Camilleri led them on with his two triples, as they went on to an 11-0 run. The Violets meant business in the second session, as they roared out, and with Steve Schembri pouring in a trio of triples, they made up a strong 14-0 run, snuffing out the Saints' lead. St James stopped Bupa's opening fury, but the champions had Abraham Portelli with another trey, for a double figure advantage. St James picked themselves up with a 7-0 run. Score at 35-32 to the champions.
After the break both sides were very wary of each other with the lead changing hands as the treys began to sink in. Anton Axiaq netted for the Saints, but Robert Azzopardi finally got his bearings right, and put in a couple of treys, keeping his side ahead. After Jonathan Ransley's leveller for the Saints, it was Dirk Schembri pushing the Violets back in front, on a 45-43 score.
The game exploded once more into life in the final period. The lead changed hands twice again, and Billy Zammit and Camilleri's treys gave St James an advantage. Bupa came back, to a point behind, but Camilleri was not done yet for the Saints, adding his points in a 7-0 run.
Bupa were in dire straits, and Azzopardi tried to pull them back as he netted a series of three treys. The Saints managed to hold the champions in check, and record their first victory in the top division.
Bupa: M. Mercieca, 15 R. Azzopardi, A. Cremona, 3 A. Borg, 8 A. Portelli, N. Vasovic, T. Paris, 16 D. Schembri, E. Caruana Montaldo, 4 JP Bonnici, 21 S. Schembri
St James: 7 S. Pace, 6 B. Zammit, 26 D. Camilleri, S. Borg, 2 G. Cuschieri, S. Vella, 9 A. Axiaq, 10 K. Baldacchino, 11 J. Ransley, 2 M. Cilia
Referees: Jean Paul Sammut, Alfred Carbonaro