Sirens keep heads in front in thrilling contest

Sirens 10
Sliema 9
(3-1, 2-4, 4-2, 1-2)

Watched by a sizeable crowd, champions 2X Sirens and Sliema Burger King took centre stage at the National Pool yesterday evening.

The outcome was a victory for the team led by John Farrugia in a hard-fought contest which kept those present on tenterhooks.

Both sets of players were fully committed into putting their everything in it and the referees, who very often looked uncompromising in their decisions, had a hard task to decipher which way certain infringement should go.

Marking was tight on both foreign players with the result that other marksmen had ample space but it was Tibor Benedek who came out top with a nap-hand of goals.

However, Sirens' superior collective game won them the day. They lifted off strongly, taking a 2-0 lead through Jonathan Valletta and Paul Privitera before Benedek powered in from the centre.

Tamas Marcz replied with an equally potent cross-shot to make it 3-1, a lead which was maintained till the end of the first session.

The Blues grabbed their first two man-up opportunities, courtesy of the deadly Benedek to level matters, before the same player gave his team the lead for the first time, 4-3.

Privitera equalised but Daniel Paolella restored Sliema's lead, with Charlie Zammit levelling matters.

Backed by a band against a huge blue streamer and a supposedly Hungarian flag rolled down onto the pool deck, the Blues fans cheered their team's sixth goal again through Benedek but this time from a penalty.

Three quick goals from Marcz, Karl Montfort and Clint Mercieca put Sirens 8-6 in front only for Edward Aquilina to resolve a man-up set and make it 8-7.

The usual goal came from the useful left-hander Jurgen Borg and Sirens were 9-7 ahead before they survived two man-down situations.

Into the last session and Francesco Cutajar pulled back a goal on a man-up for Sliema. The excitement reached pitch levels, with Sliema pushing for an equaliser and Sirens threatening to extend their lead. But there was a five-minute lull as far as goals were concerned before David Cutajar made it 10-8 with 91 seconds left.

An expulsion for Marcz had Cutajar reducing the deficit to 10-9 with 65 seconds to go. Sliema missed a man-up and so did Sirens in those remaining seconds but the final whistle found the St Paul's Bay team savouring their second victory over Sliema to go joint-top with Neptunes.

Sirens: J. Caruana Dingli, T. Debono, N. Cassar, P. Privitera 2, C. Zammit 1, J. Valletta 1, J. Borg 1, D. Cutajar 1, K. Montfort 1, T. Marcz 2, C. Mercieca 1, R. Attard, A. Grech.

Sliema: J. Cachia, C. Gialanze, E. Aquilina 1, M. Rizzo, M. Meli, J. Soler, D. Paolella 1, T. Benedek 5, C. Debono, F. Cutajar 2, N. Lubrano, A. Bianchi, R. Coleiro.

Refs: E. Carannante, M. Dalli.