Depiro 68
Bupa Luxol 60
(14-7, 17-20, 22-21, 15-12)
\nDepiro sprung the first surprise of the season after having the better of Luxol. Indeed, Depiro's victory was a deserved one as they showed better cohesion in the team and co-ordination on court.
The absence of sharp shooter Robert Azzopardi is no excuse for Luxol. Their play for most parts of the game was poor and failed to trouble Depiro's solid defence.
Silvio Cassar is still not fully fit and only played for a few minutes. Also, coach John Tabone's first-five choice left much to be desired. It sounds strange but Depiro were the dominant team underneath the boards.
Depiro won the opening session 14-7 but with Cassar on court Luxol's play improved only for their efforts to be thwarted on various occasions when the team lost possession when dribbling in attack.
Depiro were four points up at the interval. Cassar was rested and Luxol's play deteriorated as Roderick Vella's drives and three-pointers from Peter Schultz continued to pile on the pressure on Tabone. Depiro's maximum lead was 64-50.
Luxol bridged the gap on various occasions but failed to gain some consistency as the dribbling of some of their players was clearly letting the team down. Adrian Mifsud's players never wilted under the pressure to win two unexpected points at this early stage of the regular season.
Depiro: R. Vella 25, J. Vassallo, M. Sammut , P. Schultz 18, C. Agius 9, J. Vella, M. Ciantar 2, J.P. Azzopardi 10, E. Lupi 4, A. Schultz, M. Mallia, G. Muscat.
Luxol: A. Cremona 18, M. Mercieca 7, M. Micallef, D. Schembri 5, B. Micallef Trigona 2, M. Bonnici, R. Dalli, A. Bianchi 6, E. Caruana Montaldo, S. Cassar 9, S. Schembri 13.
Refs: B. Vassallo, C. Farrugia.
Pembroke 78
Footwork 53
(20-19, 14-17, 19-11, 25-6)
This final scoreline may give a false interpretation of the match. Footwork were still in it till the third session.Then, as happened in their previous games, Ray Muscat's team lost concentration and threw in the towel.
Pembroke carried heavier guns and started on the right foot to open a slight lead. Footwork hit back admirably though and until half-time they were the ones in front - 36-34.
They stayed in front till the seventh minute, 45-41. At this point, Pembroke's high zone defence was causing problems to their opponents. Several passes were being intercepted which Pembroke converted into fast breaks points to lead 53-47.
Footwork ran out of breath now as Pembroke showed their true mettle by potting 25 points to canter home to victory.
Pembroke: M. Naudi 24, J. Naudi 7, M. Zammit 24, E. Bezzina 2, J. Galea, L. Fenech, D. Cuschieri 16, M. Pisani, J. Ransley 5, D. Ross.
Footwork: L. Camilleri 6, S. Sammut 12, C. sammut 14, M. Barberi 4, I. Curmi, A. Bonnici 17, R. Loporto, A. Huizer, E. Xuereb.
Refs: C. Farrugia, S. Micallef.
Hamrun Go Mobile 83
Siggiewi Smina 46
(25-15, 16-9, 25-7, 17-15)
As expected, Hamrun started their campaign with a sound victory over Siggiewi who had playmaker Marco Pisani unavailable.
Hamrun took some time to settle down as Siggiewi led 11-9 after the first five minutes. But after a time-out, Alfred Mifsud's players found their true rhythm and that spelt the end for Siggiewi who trailed 41-24 at half-time.
Hamrun: K. Borg 3, D. Camilleri 3, A. Spiteri 13, A. Borg 23, A. Portelli 11, O. Said 18, J. Jetsen, P. Ferrante, I. Terrible 8, K. Farrugia, S. Gouder 4.
Siggiewi: P. Attard, D. Bugeja, J. Doughty 12, H. Agius 9, R. Mifsud 8, N. Borg 4, A. Farrugia 2, C. Griscti 5, M. Farrugia 3, J. Gatt 3.
Refs: B. Vassallo, S. Micallef.
Top-scorers: R. Vella (Depiro) 25, M. Naudi, M. Zammit (Pembroke) 24, A. Borg (Hamrun) 23, P. Schultz (Depiro), A. Cremona (Luxol) 18.
Next fixtures: (Saturday) 4.15 p.m. Siggiewi vs Depiro. (Sunday) 2.30 p.m. Footwork vs Hamrun, 4.15 p.m. Luxol vs Pembroke.