Sliema now eye the double

After winning the First Division championship last Sunday, Sliema Burger King will be looking to make it a double this week when the KO competition is played.

Tomorrow, the Blues face Marsascala in the semi-finals. This evening, holders Go Mobile Sirens take on league runners-up Neptunes Vodafone.

The morale in the Sliema camp is sky-high after they retained their league championship last weekend. Inspired by the prolific form of centre-man John Soler, the Blues start as clear favourites to book their place in Sunday morning's final.

However, Sliema will now have to make do without the services of coach Sergio Afric who has returned to Italy to resume his coaching job there. The reins have been handed to Peter Decesare.

Neptunes chalked up the last of their 17 KO successes in 1994. This week, they will be looking to make amends for their umpteenth setback in the league by doing well in the remaining ASA competition of 2002.

The Reds' task is a difficult one as they start with a tough match against Sirens, the team from St Paul's Bay winners of the past three KO editions. In all, Sirens lifted the KO trophy five times... still far from Sliema's tally of 20.

The disappointment of losing their battle for the championship to rivals Sliema after they had topped the championship standings for most of the campaign will inevitably have hit Neptunes hard. Tony Camilleri will be hoping that that upset will motivate his players to show their true character by producing a good performance today to book themselves a place in the final.

Sirens, however, are no easy proposition. They will also be fired up to defend their KO title, especially after their below-par performance in the league where they finished third, six points adrift of Sliema.

Joe Attard, the man who led Sirens to the KO success last year, is again in charge of the team after Italian Bruno Cofino quit last month. In their last league match against Sliema, Sirens showed signs of recovery even though they were still not good enough to halt Sliema's winning sequence.

The programme: Today - 5 p.m. Neptunes vs Sirens; Tomorrow - 5 p.m. Sliema vs Marsascala.