Sliema had their sights firmly set on sealing their place in the play-off semifinals against Neptunes and easily disposed of Birżebbuġa in the second of the best-out-three quarter-final series.
As expected Birżebbuġa played second fiddle to Sliema.
Playing soundly in the covering phase and blocking well on their opponents’ firing range, Birżebbuġa managed to limit their more-quoted opponents, Sliema, to a reasonsably low three-goal deficit to go into the half-time 5-2 down.
But when the Blues extended their lead to 10-3 by the end of the third quarter, any lingering hopes that the Southseasiders might run Sliema close were dismissed despite by Sergio Afric to rest some of his established players.
Veteran John Soler – brought out of retirement earlier this season – netted twice as Sliema produced their best waterpolo of the evening.