The pursuit of the top accolade in local waterpolo, the Division One league title, is expected to intensify this weekend with the advent of the final round matches.

After the first six weeks of the 2006 waterpolo summer season had been punctuated by high-scoring victories for the traditional powers against the rest, the second phase should see a rise in the level of competition as the top league will be restricted to the best-placed four teams.

The Division Two league will be contested by the remaining five teams, namely Exiles, Marsascala, Ta' Xbiex, Marsaxlokk and Otters, the latter set to make their season debut this weekend after skipping the entire preliminary round.

Most of the fans' attention will inevitably centre on the top flight where a fierce three-team fight for the title is anticipated.

The heavyweight trio of Neptunes, Sliema and Sirens start their final round trek on an equal footing after all amassed 12 points from their opening seven matches.

San Giljan snatched the final spot in the elite pool thanks to their fourth-place finish at the end of the preliminary round with eight points, two more than Exiles.

Now that they have reached their objective of a place in Division One, San Giljan will be looking to improve their standard through stiffer competition. An arduous challenge awaits them this evening when they face neighbouring rivals Neptunes.

Billed among the early favourites for the league crown, Neptunes' hopes of a fierce assault for the title received a fillip last weekend when they defeated the erstwhile unbeaten Sirens 7-6. Saturday's victory yielded double dividends for Neptunes - two points more in the league classification and the President's Cup.

Another encouraging aspect for Neptunes and their coach Sergio Afric was the inspirational display of their Croatian player Dubravko Simenc, scorer of four goals.

For their part, San Giljan were made to fight much harder than expected to shrug aside the challenge of Marsaxlokk by the odd goal in 21. Having beaten San Giljan 14-10 in the preliminary round, Neptunes will be highly optimistic of repeating their winning act today.

Top clash

The second match of this weekend's Division One programme promises to be a hard-fought affair as champions Sirens square up to Sliema.

When these two title rivals clashed three weeks ago, Sirens netted an emphatic 11-8 win to turn up the heat on the then struggling Sliema. The latter look to have turned their fortunes around lately as their position as joint-leaders clearly attests.

Last weekend, Sliema, this season led by former stalwart Marco Manara, easily disposed of Marsascala, 16-8, to capture the Sportswriters' Association Cup.

Hungarian ace Tibor Benedek underlined his growing influence in the Sliema team with a seven-goal harvest against Marsascala.

John Farrugia saw his Sirens team forfeit their perfect start to the title defence last weekend after being edged out by a superior Neptunes side.

Saturday's upset prevented Sirens from moving two points clear of Neptunes and Sliema but it certainly hasn't jeopardised their chances of retaining the title.

However, Farrugia and company know that another slip-up in their first game of the final round would leave them facing an uphill struggle to reach their aim.

In Division Two, Otters will have a busy introduction to the 2006 season as they play two matches in two days. Their opening fixture is against Marsascala this evening while Exiles are Otters' second opponents tomorrow.

Fixtures

Today - 6 p.m. Marsascala vs Otters; 7.15 p.m. Neptunes vs San Giljan.

Tomorrow - 6 p.m. Exiles vs Otters; 7.15 p.m. Sirens vs Sliema.

Leading scorers
T. Benedek (Sliema) 35 goals; S. Camilleri (Neptunes), S. Frolov (M'xlokk) 27; G. Silvis (Exiles), M. Cuk (San Giljan) 23; K. Galea (Neptunes) 22; J. Soler (Sliema) 21; S. Popovski (M'scala) 20; M. Zammit (San Giljan) 19; E. Aquilina (Sliema) 18.

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