No winner in absorbing contest

Neptunes 8
Sliema 8
(2-1 2-3 2-1 2-3)

Champions Sliema Burger King and Neptunes Vodafone have a knack of providing enthralling fare when they renew sporting rivalry.

Yesterday's encounter between these two giants of the local game was no exception, but it had the added ingredient of a hard-fought duel in physical terms as both teams often went for strong-arm tactics.

Neptunes were facing a make-or-break scenario and a defeat would have spelt finis to their title chances. As it turned out, the result keeps the Blues two points ahead of their rivals, equal on points with Sirens, at the head of the table while Neptunes and Marsascala each languish below with two points fewer. With one round to go everything is pointing to a heart-throbbing finale to the league season.

There was an electrifying start to the match. Central zone prevailed at Neptunes' end before Karl Galea bundled in with Josie Cachia lucky not to be sent off, at least temporarily, when hitting the Neptunes scorer in the face after the ball went in.

Nicky Falzon equalised but John Brownrigg resolved a break to give Neptunes a 2-1 lead.

Exchanges became rather abrasive with Matthew Pisani being reprieved after fouling his shadower off the ball. Galea eluded the last man to make it 3-1 for Neptunes early in the second session.

The Balluta Bay side persisted with their zone cover with the Blues still unable to finish off clincally with their shooting from outside the red zone until Andrea Bianchi squeezed in to surprise Nicky Gouder.

For Sliema, Galea Pace netted from a man-up with Falzon resolving a similar set, to give the Blues the lead for the first time, 4-3.

Stevie Camilleri restored the equilibrium when drilling in from ten metres before ends were changed.

Shortly after the second restart Brownrigg resolved the first man-over set for Neptunes.

By now the Reds opted to shift for tighter marking and quick-doubling on the centre. S. Camilleri rounded off a fast four-on-three break to give Neptunes a 6-4 lead.

At this point the Reds were looking sprightlier but Soler flicked in a beauty to reduce the arrears to 6-5. With the last session looming the Blues went for even tighter marking.

In the last quarter Bianchi's shot breached Neptunes' zone and the score was six-all. S. Camilleri did likewise at the other end to obtain his hat-trick.

Excitement was brewing as Mark Meli flicked in beautifully to restore balance. Sliema and Neptunes tried to exploit their man-up sets (in the end they each netted twice from eight occasions). Meli scored his team's second to put Sliema in front.

With 26 seconds to go the Blues had a player excluded and this time Pisani made no mistake to make it 8-8.

After the final whistle tempers became frayed with both sets of players getting involved in a scuffle as some Neptunes players got out of the pool from Sliema's end. But order was soon restored.

Neptunes: N. Gouder, N. Lanzon, S. Gravina, K. Galea 2, E. Cachia, J. Brownrigg 2, S. Camilleri 3, L. Attard, D. Camilleri, M. Azzopardi, A. Sammut, M. Stellini, M. Pisani 1.

Sliema: J. Cachia, D. Paolella, E. Aquilina, M. Galea Pace 1, M. Meli 2, J. Soler 1, J. Paris, B. Coleiro, C. Debono, F. Cutajar, K. Engerer, N. Falzon 2, A. Bianchi 2.

Refs: M. Angilleri, E. Costa.

Ta' Xbiex 6
Exiles 8
(1-2, 1-2, 2-3, 2-1)

By virtue of their win over Ta' Xbiex, Exiles rejoined San Giljan at the top of the second division table to keep alive their title ambitions.

It had looked comfortable for Exiles at one point, but Ta' Xbiex threatened to spoil their copybook before Exiles made certain of victory.

Exiles took a two-goal lead which was neutralised by the beginning of the second session. Until then, zone marking by both teams had prevailed, with shots not being very accurate.

Exiles again took a two-goal advantage and extended their lead to 5-2 with Joe Cremona reaching his hat-trick. Jason Vella again netted with a backhand to give Exiles some assurance after Ta' Xbiex reduced the gap.

With the score on 7-4 and the last session left for the end, Ta' Xbiex bounced into serious contention when netting twice only for Exiles to keep their cool and score again for an 8-6 final result.

Ta' Xbiex: C. Sciortino, G. Attard 2, A. Ferò, K. Sciortino, P. Paolella 2, D. Dowling, N. Giordano, D. Schembri 2, J. Dimech, S. Balzan, P. Widowson, A. Tanti, P. Dimech.

Exiles: J. Cuschieri, M. Grima, M. Zarb 2, A. Bianchi, T. Sullivan, K. Camilleri, G. Desira Buttigieg, J. Cremona 4, J.J. Tabone, M. Calleja, A. Arrigo, J. Vella 2, W. Privitera.

Refs: I. Sciriha, A. De Raffaele.

Otters 4
Valletta 9
(0-3, 2-1, 0-3, 2-2)

Valletta, looking sharper throughout, built an early base against Gozitan team Otters before finally dismissing their hapless opponents who never looked capable of making a fight of it.

The City side had always looked the better team especially when operating on the breaks. They won the first and third quarters with an identical 3-0 scoreline and that helped them to ease their way to victory.

Dave Shaw scored three for Valletta.

Otters: R. Grech, D. Saliba, G. Zammit, S. Grech, J. Zammit 1, J.P. Buttigieg, P. Saliba, K. Mizzi 2, J. Cefai, C. Bajada, E. Farrugia, M. Tabone 1, B. Pavia.

Valletta: E. Arrigo, G. Sammut 1, Mauro Camilleri, Marco Camilleri, D. Degiorgio, D. Saliba, A. Galea 2, J.C. Farrugia, D. Shaw 3, C. Saliba, P. Bonnici, M. Zammit 1, E. Pisani 2.

Refs: M. Dalli, P. Giordano.