Today’s derby between Neptunes Grimaldi and Sliema Betsson comes at an early stage in this summer’s BOV National League but the two big rivals of the local game will again be fully charged to win and claim sole leadership in the standings.
With champions San Ġiljan Salini Resort failing miserably in their last outing against Neptunes, the Reds and Sliema are the only two teams without defeat in the Premier Division.
They head the table with seven points each after three matches.
The Blues come to this match after a 9-6 win in a low-key en-counter against bottom-placed Exiles Jetfreight.
Neptunes, however, look to be the more buoyant side at the moment after hitting back from an unexpected nine-all draw against Sirens Ritter Sport in their previous match with a comprehensive 15-5 victory over San Ġiljan.
Zoran Maslovar’s Reds produced one of their best matches for years, leaving the champions reeling and unable to reply to their opponents’ fine play as key player Dino Zammit was sorely felt on the day.
After match-day three of the championship, the Saints are languishing in fourth place and temporarily outside the Champion-ship Pool zone.
Tomorrow, however, they have an ideal opportunity to bounce back into the reckoning if they dislodge Valletta McDonald’s from third place by beating Stephen Rizzo’s team.
The Saints’ task will not be easy though as Valletta are showing they will be a hard nut to crack this summer. Their resilience was very much in evidence during last week’s 13-11 win over Sirens.
Valletta’s foreign player Dimitri Kholod, of Russia, is also showing signs of his true qualities in the water and scored five goals against Sirens.
In today’s opening match, Exiles will be looking to break their duck and put down their first points in the table when playing Sirens who lost to San Ġiljan in their opener earlier this month.
Fixtures
Playing today
Premier League: 18.15 Exiles Jetfreight vs Sirens Ritter Sport; 19.30 Sliema Betsson vs Neptunes Grimaldi.
Tomorrow
Division One: 16.45 Marsascala Nut-rition Empire vs Ta’ Xbiex Amigos; 18.00 Otters Nivea vs Marsaxlokk Fischer.
Premier League: 19.15 Valletta McDonald’s vs San Ġiljan Salini Resort.