■ Gerald Fenech
Sirens Ritter Sports 12
Neptunes Emirates 15
(0-4)(3-2)(4-4)(5-4)
Neptunes eventually won the three points in a fine encounter against Sirens although they could easily have thrown away their superiority with some sloppy defending and indifferent finishing up front
At first Neptunes threatened to take an early command of the game racing to a 4-0 lead in the first session. However Sirens made more of a contest in the second session in fact winning it 3-2 to retain a semblance of competition after the first half of the encounter. At that stage, Neptune’s goals came from six different players indicating teamwork at every level of the Balluta boys’ game.
The third session ended 4-4 with Sirens coming back into the game due to some slipups by Neptunes although the protagonists were Lanzon and Mercieca who notched four and three respectively at each end.
In a thrilling final session, Sirens came twice within just one goal of Neptunes largely through the fine efforts of Attard, Charlie Zammit and Clint Mercieca but late goals from Lanzon and Jordan Camilleri sealed the encounter for the Balluta team.
Sirens Ritter Sports: Sammut J, Attard A (5), Micallef P, Borg P (1), Sammut A, Mock R, Borg J, Grech M, Zammit C (2), Caruana L, Zammit D, Mercieca C (4)
Neptunes Emirates: Bugeja I, Lanzon N (6), Aquilina (2), Stellini M (1), Mizzi Z, Debattista K, Camilleri J (4), Agius T, Buhagiar B, Gravina S (1), Pace G, Lanzon B, Pisani M (1)
Referees: R Spiteri, A DeRaffaele
San Giljan Firetech 9
Exiles Jet Services 8
(1-1)(2-4)(5-0)(1-3)
A last gasp goal by Christian Gialanze secured San Giljan Firetech’s first victory in the Winter League this season causing a substantial upset against yet unbeaten Exiles Jet services.
In the first session, both teams scored a goal apiece but in the second, Exiles took the advantage winning 4-2 largely through successive counterattacks from Pace Lupi and Paris. However the third session saw an incredible turnaround in favour of San Giljan who won 5-0 with Exiles crashing badly to goals by Borg Spiteri, Anthony and Karl Galea.
The final session saw a complete turnaround with Exiles racing to a 3-0 lead and equalizing at 8-8. But after a timeout, San Giljan found the winning goal through Gialanze to the delight of their numerous contingent.
San Giljan Firetech: D Camilleri, JC Cutajar, A Galea (1), K Galea (2), M Borg Spiteri (2), K Dowling (2), L Grixti, A Bianchi, K Mock, C Gialanze (2), P Fava, M Fenech, K Schembri
Exiles Jet Services: Borg Cole A Rizzo Naudi J (1), Rizzo Naudi K, Pace Lupi D (1), Sullivan T (3), Calleja M, Paris J (1), Grixti K, Zarb Cousin A, Cini S, Vassallo S (1), Borg D, Lanzon K
Referees: R Spiteri, A Farrugia