SAN ĠILJAN TUM INVEST......15
VALLETTA..............................8
(3-2), (4-2), (4-2), (4-2)
League leaders San Ġiljan Tum Invest are now one point away from being mathematically champions after they defeated Valletta United 15-8 to keep up their record of winning all games so far. This eleventh win of the league didn’t surprise anyone as San Ġiljan have been superior throughout the whole season.
Marko Orlovic had to do without centre Peter Borg and captain Matthew Zammit who had an injury in his right ear which he picked up from the mid-week game against Sirens. But despite having to play without two senior players, San Ġiljan still had the control of the match, and the youngsters filled in well for these missing players.
Aleksandar Ivovic continued to show his dominance in the pitch scoring five goals, while Dino Zammit also had a great game netting a poker of goals. On the other hand, Serbian Boris Vapenski was Valletta's main scorer with four goals.
As expected San Ġiljan started the game by taking lead, and slowly started to take control, but didn’t dominate like they normally do in the opening session, winning it 3-2 with Ryan Mock reducing the margin for Valletta.
San Ġiljan were looking to open up a comfortable lead but in two occasions, Valletta scored to stay within reach. But it was Paul Fava who made it 6-4 to put the Saints two goals ahead. Valletta coach Stephen Rizzo called a time-out in their last action of the session to try and reduce the margin ahead of the third session, but they lost the possession instantly and permitted San Ġiljan another chance, in which Joseph Galea scored from a tight angle.
The three-goal advantage seemed to change the rhythm of the game, as the leaders were searching to kill the game, and did so by opening up a five=goal advantage, a margin that they kept till the end of the third session. Marko Orlovic continued to rotate his team, but San Ġiljan kept the same rhythm as they did in the previous sessions to continue increasing their advantage to win the game in comfortable fashion.
(Photos Domenic Aquilina)
San Ġiljan: J. Tanti, T. Said, A. Galea, B. Grech, J. Galea (1), M. Zammit, B. Plumpton (1), D. Zammit, A. Ivovic (5), A. Cousin (1), P. Fava (3), D. Zammit (4), T. Micallef
Valletta: R. Sciortino, J. Spiteri Staines, A. Agius, M. Rizzo, M. Fenech (1), R. Mock (1), D. Paolella (1), A. Mifsud, M. Cordina (1), B. Vapenski (4), K. Galea, D. Fenech, F. Buhagiar
Referees: Peter Balzan, Fabio Brasiliano
SLIEMA FRANK SALT..............7
EXILES JETFREIGHT................11
(0-4), (2-1), (3-2), (2-4)
Serbian superstar Slobodan Nikic had a man of the match performance as he helped Exiles Jetfreight win the Sliema derby against Sliema Frank Salt 11-7 for Exiiles to take their revenge were eliminated from the knock-out last Wednesday.
A great performance by Dorian Pisani’s team as they started with a solid performance in the first session and took an advantage which they maintained till the end. This win meant also that now they are six points above Valletta.
This defeat meant that Sliema have lost to four teams this season and the situation isn’t positive for the Blues as even the players in the pitch don’t seem to be compact together, and coach Bogdan Rath has so much work to do. The players have some responsibility to shoulder, especially their foreigner Guillermo Molina who was almost absent from the game.
Two goals from Slobodan Nikic, Andrea Bianchi and Nicky Paris gave Exiles a deserved 4-0 win as Sliema were fragile in defence and powerless in attack. Sliema improved in the second session and they were rotating the ball better in attack scoring twice to reduce the deficit to three goals after Nikic scored between them.
Bogdan Rath’s team entered the game in the beginning of the third session with a goal by Nicholas Bugelli, but Exiles made sure to stay ahead with another two goals. Jerome Gabarretta scored his first goal of the game and scored his second just before the end of the session, again reducing the deficit to two goals.
As the win was still to be decided, a reaction from Sliema to turn a defeat into victory like last Wednesday’s game was expected, but after Gabarretta scored his third consecutive goal, Exiles scored twice from Sullivan and Nikic, as Michele Stellini made it 10-6 with a bit less than two minutes. Gabarretta scored his fourth of the game, but Benji Lanzon made sure that Exiles has the last joy in the game.
Sliema: R. Coleiro, J. Gabarretta (4), E. Aquilina (1), C. Cluett, G. Molina, K. Dowling, M. Spiteri Staines, L. Galea, J. Gambin, M. Meli (1), Z. Mizzi, N. Bugelli (1), Z. Sciberras
Exiles: M. Castillo, J. Rizzo Naudi, D. Borg Millo, M. Stellini (1), T. Sullivan (1), S. Xerri de Caro (1), S. Nikic (5), K. Griscti, N. Paris (1), A. Bianchi (1), B. Lanzon (1), L. Felice, S. Galea Pace
Referees: Stefan Licari, Fabio Brasiliano
First division
Marsaskala’s title aspirations hit a blow
MARSASKALA TRANSCRIPTA........9
OTTERS NIVEA.............................11
(3-4), (2-3), (3-0), (1-4)
A tough blow for Marsaskala’s title aspirations as they suffered their third defeat of the league, losing 11-9 to Otters Nivea. In fact, this was the second defeat against the Gozitan team, as they lost in the second round also with a two-goal margin, and now they are six points behind leaders Marsaxlokk with a game more and with only three games left.
Otters looked sharper in their play and except the third session they were better than their opponents, they deserved the win as their youngsters alongside veteran Charlie Zammit and their foreigner Marko Jelaka continued to produce positive waterpolo, taking also advantage of the missed opportunities by Marsaskala.
Otters had to recover from a 3-1 deficit in the first session, and did so by scoring three goals from Luke Hyzler, Edward Meli and Charlie Zammit, ending the session 4-3 in front. Their superiority at that moment resulted in a clear edge over their opponents as they netted three consecutive goals from left-handed Luke Hyzler and a brace by Edward Meli to open up a 7-3 lead.
Marsaskala were able to react and scored twice from Vlahovic and Duncan Cassar to reduce the deficit to two goals. Their comeback became successful after the break as they scored three times with no reply to take the lead for the second time in the match with only a session to spare.
Andrija Vlahovic managed even to make the score 9-7, but from then onwards, the game had another twist, as Otters were more composed in their attacks and it was no surprise that they equalised with two goals from Edward Meli and Michael Borg Millo. The game was up for grabs with only few minutes left, and it was time for Marko Jelaka to shine as he scored twice in a vital moment to seal the three points.
Marsaskala: K. Schembri, J.C. Cutajar, N. Farrugia (1), C. Bonello, A. Vlahovic (5), L. Grixti, K. Navarro, J. Busuttil, S. Micallef, M. Agius, D. Cassar (1), M. Cutajar (2), B. Muscat
Otters: M. Xerri, M. Borg Millo (1), A. Magri, L. Hyzler (3), E. Meli (4), D. Dimech, G. Mizzi, M. Jelaka (2), S. Dimech, C. Zammit (1), M. Borg, C. Teuma, J. Sammut
Referees: Ronnie Spiteri, Aldo Rovandi