When Sliema come up against Neptunes, they are typically super-committed. It was no exception yesterday. Their hero this time was ex-San Giljan player Dino Zammit, whose four goals in their 6-5 victory enabled his side to take an important win.
Although the Blues could not claw their way further up the table, they had further incentive to draw maximum spoils to clinch the first win in their direct encounters with the front-runners.
They did this chiefly through the exploits of Zammit but Neptunes were to blame as their lack of shooting accuracy played into the hands of their shrewd opponents.
With Steven Camilleri offering extra cover to the defence, making up for the absence of his brother Jordan, Neptunes’ gameplan centred around Sam Gialanze who was not in his best form yesterday.
The Blues started almost like a train, taking a 2-0 lead inside the first three minutes through Jamie Gambin and John Brownrigg.
But Neptunes recovered admirably to restore equilibrium when Camilleri and the opportunistic Gabriel Pace made it all square before the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Neptunes had a penalty whistled against them when Jeremy Abela fouled the impressive Gambin who went into full stretch to reach the long ball in front of Alan Borg Cole. From the ensuing shot, Zammit made 3-2.
Sliema were back to full strength with Jerome Gabaretta returning after injury, deployed a front shielder closing in on the opposing centre towards the expiry of the 30-second period.