The summer waterpolo championship finally received the tonic it had long been waiting for when a bumper crowd at the National Pool on Sunday witnessed the crunch derby between Sliema and Neptunes, a match followed by the clash between the other two contenders for the national title - Sirens and Marsascala.
Without doubt, interest in the 7-Up League seemed to be on the decline before last weekend's matches got underway.
A series of six rounds of drab non-contests, which brought about high-scoring results but attracted very few spectators, only served for some young aspirants to play a couple of sessions more than expected.
However, the competition burst into life last week with the fare provided by the two great rivals of Maltese waterpolo in a thrilling 8-8 draw not to mention the sound refereeing of the two officials in this match.
Tony Camilleri's Neptunes were leading for most of the match but the resilience of champions Sliema paid its dividends as the Blues hit four goals in quick succession in a dramatic finale.
In the other top match of the day, the shrewd tactics of Sirens' Italian coach Bruno Cufino and three early goals were perhaps the main reasons why the balance tilted in favour of the St Paul's Bay team when playing against Marsascala. The southerners, however, never threw in the towel despite that early setback.
This positive trend must have gone down really well with waterpolo lovers but one man who should be more satisfied than the rest must be Dirk Dowling.
Besides leading his club side Exiles to a last-gasp win over rivals Marsaxlokk on Sunday, the Malta coach was delighted to see that most of his national team players are nearing their peak at the right time, just a couple of weeks away from the European B Championship in Stockholm this month. Dowling shall announce the final list of 13 players on Wednesday. David Camilleri, of Neptunes, has been called to train with the national squad ahead of next week's selection.
Meanwhile, today's league matches have an added flavour of cup competition attached to the two prime fixtures - Neptunes vs Marsascala and Sliema vs Sirens.
Neptunes and Marsascala, besides the classification points, will also duel for the Sportswriters Association Cup while Sirens, the only team with full points, will be aiming to retain the President's Cup when facing Sliema.
The Blues have Clint Debono a doubtful starter but new signing James Falzon, the young brother of Maltese/Australian Nicky, could figure in Sergio Afric's squad.
The other three matches should also be close affairs.
The programme opener today sees Valletta and Otters clashing for their first points of the season. Tomorrow, Exiles will seek to extend their winning run at the expense of Ta' Xbiex and San Giljan take on Ronnie Spiteri's Marsa-xlokk. These four sides are likely to be among the front-runners in the Division Two league.
Today: 4 p.m. Otters vs Valletta; 5 p.m. Neptunes vs Marsascala; 6 p.m. Sliema vs Sirens.
Tomorrow: 3.30 p.m. Exiles vs Ta' Xbiex; 4.30 p.m. Marsaxlokk vs San Giljan.