At long last Otters broke their duck. And their first win in four matches, against Ta’ Xbiex, also took them off the bottom of the standings.

It was Ta’ Xbiex with the better opening, with a three- goal lead after the opening period, and at the interval they enjoyed a good 8-4 advantage.

The match then took a different turn after the break, with the Gozitans taking only a session to overturn the scoreline, as they inched ahead of their opponents, at 11-10.

In the last session Otters opened up their lead, to three goals, before a late burst had Ta’ Xbiex going to just a goal behind.

In their five man-ups Otters scored on three occasions, and their two players, Zoltan Radocz and Duncan Schembri, grabbed four goals each. Ta’ Xbiex also had five numerical advantages, scoring in two of them.

In Yuri Szeles they had the game’s best scorer, with six goals, most of them coming in the last session.

Otters: J. Cremona, G. Attard 3, G. Zammit, P. Martin, D. Schembri 4, K. Scicluna,

M. Balatoni 2, S. Dimech, Z. Radocz 4, A. Borg, C. Martin, S. Xerri, K. Grima Scott 2

Ta’ Xbiex: L. Borg, M. Paris, S. Vassallo, C. Cluett 1, D. Borg, B. Muscat, T. Gyrovath 2, E. Bonello 3, M. Cordina 1, C. Saliba, R. Attard 1, JC Decelis, Y. Szeles 6

Referees: S. Licari, P.Giordano

Playing today

Tal-Qroqq Pool: Div. II 4.45pm, Valletta-Marsascala; Div. I 6pm, San Giljan - Sliema