Under the watchful eyes of new coach Zeljko Kovacic, San Ġiljan put up a slick display, backed by sound defensive blocking and swift counter-punching to annihilate Sliema as easily as the 11-6 scoreline indicates.
In so doing, the Saints forced a decider scheduled for Tuesday, to determine the destination of this year’s winter title.
Matthew Zammit’s explosive qualities did the game early on, once with an excellent goal which gave the Saints a 2-1 lead.
Sliema went for all-pitch press early on, but San Giljan administered the game wisely.
Just before the end of the first session, the Blues gifted their opponent a goal on the counter when Jake Bonavia swam full pitch to beat Nicky Grixti for 3-1.