Plucky Marsascala shock leaders Sirens

Sirens 5
Marsascala 7
(2-2, 2-2, 0-0, 1-3)

A game which meandered for long stretches in almost complete silence, finally sprang to life when Marsascala Breakers turned a 5-4 deficit, which matured early in the last session, into a 7-5 victory over league leaders Sirens Go Mobile.

Unquestionably, it was another victory which came courtesy of the tactical acumen instilled in the south seasiders by Pierre Borg.

Aware that their opponents' threat could come mainly from Jonathan Valletta, Borg devised a noose round the Sirens' player. That kept him unable to find space for pots at goal - the only opportunity coming when he equalised on 3-3 in the third session.

Marsascala were well-served by the inspirational Paul Privitera and good service also came from Anthony Galea and, early on, from Kayne Lanzon who each scored a brace.

It had been tit-for-tat in the early sessions with neither team being able to show any ascendancy.

After the third session moratorium in terms of goals, the sparks were provided in the last quarter, with Marsascala pulling their stops to upstage their opponents.

Sirens' man-up statistics were a meagre one on six, while Marsascala scored three on seven.

Two goals within 70 seconds gave Sirens a kick-start, with the southerners missing out on a man-up in between. That early buffer through goals from Borg and Cauchi was cut by half when Lanzon hit first-time on a cross-pass. The same player converted his team's second numerical advantage to draw level seconds before the end of the first session.

Marking tactics at both ends remained unchanged, with Marsa-scala going for press and Sirens tightening up from their semi-zone as the possession period drew to a close.

The league leaders lost their first man-up early in the second session and paid the penalty when Anthony Galea converted on the next exclusion in his team's favour to make it 3-2.

Two missed chances by Marsascala and one by Sirens from similar sets were followed by quick goals at either end, one from Valletta and the other from Paul Fava to leave Marsascala 4-3 ahead. Montfort equalised after an opponents' exclusion before ends were changed.

The contest was finely balanced, with John Licari, Marsascala's prodigal recruit from Neptunes, putting in his share for his new team. The exchanges were slightly short on sharpness and intensity, though. The crowd watched in semi-silence.

Sirens front shield on the centre left Pierre Borg's team with few options but to shoot from a distance. Marsascala had an extra-man opportunity in the last 17 seconds of the third session, but failed to convert - their third miss on the trot.

Cauchi, who was constituting a thorn in the centre, made it 5-4 early in the fourth session. Sirens missed their next man-up and that proved costly as Privitera exploited the space to level matters soon afterwards. Sirens again failed to convert an extra-man and Marsascala again punished Sirens as Galea wrapped up on a break, for a 6-5 lead.

With almost four minutes to go it was still anybody's game. But Privitera extended his team's lead to 7-5 with 2:25 left on the watch. Sirens again failed to convert a man-up, and their opponents administered their lead.

Sirens: J. Caruana Dingli, C. Spiteri de Barro, K. Rizzo Naudi, N. Imbroll, C. Cauchi (2), J. Valletta (1), J. Borg (1), D. Cutajar, K. Montfort (1), W. Degiorgio, S. Cachia, J. Farrugia, N. Cassar.

Marsascala: I. Bugeja, P. Fava (1), A. Galea (2), P. Privitera (2), C. Gialanze, J. Xerri de Caro, J. Licari, J. Cremona, K. Lanzon (2), K. Enriquez, S. Micallef, M. Zammit, D. Ciappara, R. Cutajar, A. Tanti.

Refs: M. Ancilleri, L. Bianco.

Ta' Xbiex keep up momentum

Ta' Xbiex 7
Otters 4
(1-1, 3-1, 1-1, 2-1)

Though not producing smooth fare, Ta' Xbiex Mermaids Paradise had the better of a gutsy Otters who only succumbed completely towards the end after staying close to their opponents' heels until half way through the last session.

With Duncan Schembri and George Attard having a quiet afternoon Ta' Xbiex could not quite shrug off their fighting opponents.

Three goals in the second session appeared to give them some oxygen, but they kept missing their man-ups. That helped Otters to remain in the hunt. However, two goals by Gianfranco Stellini and Kurt Sciortino - both scorers of a brace - finally had Charlie Mock's team pulling away on 7-3 before Otters reduced the deficit.

Ta' Xbiex: C. Sciortino, G. Attard (1), G. Stellini (2), K. Sciortino (2), D. Debono, E. Pisani (1), J. Zammit (1), D. Schembri, T. Boyd, A. Fero, J. Degabriele, F. Testa, M. Mifsud.

Otters: A. Sciberras, M. Camilleri, G.L. Zammit (1), S. Grech (1), D. Saliba, C. Zammit, K. Mizzi, P. Saliba, J.P. Buttigieg, D. Zammit, R. Grech (1), M. Tabone, J. Cassar (1).

Refs: A. De Raffaele, M. Caruana.

Exiles 6
ASA Youths 4
(1-1, 2-2, 1-0, 2-1)

The first clash of the cadets league, a non-competitive affair between Exiles RMF and a depleted ASA Youths, turned out to be a low profile contest which never ignited the slightest spark. Goals were at a premium and the tempo of the game, given that swimming was not very sharp, never reached adequate levels.

A Jason Vella poker and a goal each from Silvio Borg and Malcolm Zarb set the seal on the Sliema outfit's merited victory. The ASA team, minus the services of the Neptunes' players John Brownrigg, Steve Camilleri and Sean Gravina, besides Andrea Bianchi and Karl Rizzo Naudi, kept on a par with their opponents until the end of the second quarter, when the teams were 3-3.

From then on Farrugia's team were a spent force and one questions the wisdom of the ASA putting this team into the fray when its components are constantly chopped and changed due to unexplained defections.

Exiles: A. Grech, M. Grima, M. Zarb (1), D. Pace Lupi, T. Sullivan, K. Camilleri, M. Psaila, A. Arrigo, J.J. Tabone, S. Balzan, S. Borg (1), J. Vella (4), M. Calleja.

ASA Youths: R. Coleiro, M. Bianchi (1), G. Lubrano, B. Borg, M. Meli (3), M. Vella, M. Brownrigg, J. Rizzo Naudi, A. Sammut, D. Paolella, M. Zammit, C. Bonello.

Refs: A. De Raffaele, A. Fenech.