A- Z El. Athleta 74

Siggiewi Derby 51

(23-2)(19-10)(11-19)(21-20)

The match had a delay with Siggiewi objecting to being refereed by two officials instead of three as was agreed for top Men’s matches. Finally the game started with a Siggiewi protest. Athleta’s massive lead from early on conditioned the match with the champions coming back for a respectable score but they are still tussling it out with Luxol for the second final spot now that Athleta are sure of their place in the final.

Athleta had Etienne Bezzina and Chris Galea missing. For Siggiewi there were Peter Shoults on the injured list and Lee Ross unavailable.

The opening session was a disastrous one for the champions. They replied to Athleta’s first two hoops but from then on they were shut out by their opponents.

It was Kristin Baldacchino who did most of the damage to Siggiewi’s opaque defence. Athleta then went on to register a hefty 19-0 run and their advantage escalated to a near prohibitive one.

In the second quarter Siggiewi began to reply but Athleta had no problems in extending their lead. Baldacchino netted a triple while at the other end Marco Matijevic and Adrian Micallef began to gather points for the champions. Michael Naudi and Omar Said kept Athleta buoyant and they finished off the period with a 7-2 run for a 42-12 score at the interval.

After the break Siggiewi were more incisive. It was Athleta who began with a Steve Schembri triple but the champions got down to business and ground out a solid 18-2 run with Athleta uncomfortable under the pressure.

The latter recovered late in the period to halt Siggiewi’s progress but the score had become a more realistic one with Athleta on a 53-31 advantage.

In the final session despite suffering the first points Siggiewi were yet cutting down on their deficit. After they made a 7-0 run Said replied with a triple for Athleta but Matijevic was still obtaining points for Siggiewi in a 7-2 run.

Athleta recovered with a similar run and Baldacchino netted a second triple with the match coming to a tame end with a heavy lead for Athleta.

Athleta: 19 M. Naudi, J. Zammit, 13 D. Schembri, 11 O. Said, 4 A. Bonnici, 19 K. Baldacchino, 5 A. Ryan, 3 S. Schembri

Siggiewi: J. Doughty, E. Xuereb, 1 A. Borg, 10 A. Micallef, 2 K. Borg, 8 J. Jetson, 30 M. Matijevic

Referees: G. Barbara, E. Mangani