Waterpolo is a sport where excitement reigns supreme if not also tempered with tension especially when the teams are balanced. But yesterday’s match between Neptunes and San Ġiljan went beyond these elements when the game ended in fracas.
All this tension erupted in the final moments after Steve Camilleri score late in the last session to make it 16-14. After that there was commotion when Camilleri and Ben Plumpton came to blows and then hell broke loose…in the name of ‘sport’.
The two sides meet again tomorrow in the BOV Knock-Out competition and a soul-searching needs to be done to ensure such scenes are not repeated.
It had been a very close affair early on. In the first quarter, Neptunes were always ahead, at times by two lengths. However, the battling San Ġiljan kept chasing them. Jordan Camilleri resolved a break to give Neptunes a 4-3 lead at the end of the first session.
Exchanges became rather abrasive with Jordan Camilleri being reprieved after fouling Matthew Zammit off the ball. Petar Muslim eluded the last man to make it 5-3 for Neptunes early in the second session.
Goals alternated with three conversions as Neptunes maintained a slim lead over San Ġiljan.
By this time, Jordan Camilleri was on two major fouls. Dino Zammit was also ominously hanging on two fouls at the start of the second session but was still in water to restore parity, before Matthew Zammit helped the Saints take the lead for the first time in an eventful second session.
Muslim made it 7-7 but San Ġiljan hit back strongly to score twice in quick succession, including a beautiful backhand by Niksa Dobud, to take a 9-7 lead at the half-way mark.
The Reds started the third session badly but they kept within some sort of touch when they only trailed 12-11 two minutes from the end of the third period.
At this point, San Ġiljan suffered a huge blow when Dobud was fouled out and Darko Brguljan restored equilibrium.
With everything to play for in the last session, it turned into a tit-for-tat as both teams tried to annul each other’s efforts with Guillermo Molina cancelling out Brguljan’s second goal.
Having Dobud already fouled out, when Paul Fava was expelled San Ġiljan were intent on surviving but Nikolai Zammit scored two goals in quick succession to make it 15-13 for the Reds.
San Ġiljan were still full of fight as Molina’s fifth goal set up a nervy finale.
All the tension erupted in the final moments when Steve Camilleri made it 16-14. There was commotion when Steve Camilleri and Ben Plumpton came to blows. Both players were sent-off for brutality as Dino Zammit suffered the same fate. Molina hit a late penalty conversion but Neptunes held out for victory.
In the earlier, First Division match, Otters Nivea were a sharper side, with the 10-6 scoreline just about reflecting the gap between the teams.
With Milos Filipovic conducting operations, besides netting a poker, the Gozitans always held the upper hand despite the opportunism of the Ta’ Xbiex foreigner, Nicolò Gitto, who hit three goals.
At one time in the third quarter, Ta’ Xbiex cut the leeway to three goals but Otters whose other goals came from Ferenc Salamon, Luke Hyzler (two each), Edward Meli and Claudio Spiteri de Barro, came back in the last part of the game to secure their first win of the season.
Summaries
TA’ XBIEX 6
OTTERS 10
(2-5, 1-3, 3-1, 0-2)
Ta’ Xbiex: Z. Sciberras, R. Grech, M. de Marco 2, N. Schiavone, M. Carani, S. Azzopardi, D. Fenech, N. Saliba, N. Kacar 1, G. Sammut, K. Tanti, N. Gitto 3, A. Theuma.
Otters: D. Camilleri, C. Spiteri de Barro 1, F. Salamon 2, L. Hyzler 2, E. Meli 1, M. Lanzon 1, G. Mizzi, D. Dimech, A. Mifsud, D. Zahra, B. Lanzon, M. Filipovic 4, M. Farrugia.
Refs: Fabio Brasiliano, Alex DeRaffaele.
SAN ĠILJAN 15
NEPTUNES 16
(3-4, 6-3, 3-5, 3-4)
San Ġiljan: J. Tanti, B. Grech, A. Galea, N. Dobud 4, G. Molina 6, M. Zammit 1, B. Plumpton, K. Dowling, T. Said, Darren Zammit 1, P. Fava, Dino Zammit 3, T. Micallef.
Neptunes: A. Borg Cole, N. Lanzon, K. Erdogan, G. Pace, P. Muslim 3, D. Brguljan 2, S. Camilleri 5, J. Camilleri 4, J. Abela, N. Zammit 2, M. Azzopardi, B. Busuttil.
Refs: Mario Dalli, Luca Bianco.
PLAYING TODAY
Birżebbuġa vs Marsaskala 16.45
Sliema vs Marsaxlokk 18.00
Sirens vs Exiles 19.15
Premier Division KO QF
TOMORROW
San Ġiljan vs Neptunes 19.00