Marsascala beat Otters 19-8 to reach final

Marsascala 19
Otters 8
(4-0, 4-4, 5-2, 6-2)

Marsascala Breakers bounced back from the upset of missing out on the Division Two title on Monday, when they powered their way into the KO final after a comfortable victory over Otters yesterday.

The southerners rubber-stamped their superiority in the opening session with Malcolm Fava and Sacho Popovski doing all the work for the team as they raced to a 4-0 lead.

Marsascala made a number of changes at the start of the second session and that enabled Otters to get more into the match. At one point, Kevin Mizzi bridged the gap to 6-4.

However, a five-goal burst by Marsascala in the third session gave the scoreline a more familiar look as Stefan Licari's side extended their advantage to 13-4.

George Zammit scored a brace for Otters to make the score more respectable before the final session got underway. The game never changed face though as Marsascala netted six goals in the last quarter for a comfortable 19-8 scoreline.

Marsascala: I. Bugeja, J. Cachia, S. Farrugia, A. Galea 1, M. Borg Spiteri 3, S. Popovski 1, P. Fava 2, L. Grixti, S. Micallef 3, M. Fava 5, R. Cutajar 2, M. Spiteri 2, D. Ciappara.

Otters: E. Farrugia, F. Bajada, G. Zammit 2, S. Scerri, P. Cachia, David Saliba, K. Mizzi 1, M. Toth 4, K. Scicluna, S. Scicluna, Darren Saliba, P. Saliba 1, C. Xuereb.

Refs: A. De Raffaele, M. Angileri.

Exiles 13
Marsaxlokk 9
(4-2, 3-1, 3-2, 3-4)

Fresh from their Division Two title success, Exiles remained on course to complete a league and cup double after they beat Marsaxlokk 13-9 in a preliminary round match.

Inspired by their talisman John Paris, Exiles proved too strong for Marsaxlokk and will now face Ta' Xbiex in tomorrow's semi-final with the winner setting up a final showdown with Marsascala on Saturday.

Exiles were the better team throughout and looked set for trouble-free outing when they raced to a 10-5 lead at the end of the third session.

However, Marsaxlokk came back strongly and threw the match wide open when goals from Sergei Frolov (2), Simon Cachia and Gianluca Lubrano put the southerners just one goal behind.

Exiles soon regained control, netting three goals without reply through Paris, Timmy Sullivan and Martin Booij to kill off the game.

Exiles: N. Imbroll, A. Borg Cole, M. Zarb 1, D. Pace Lupi 2, T. Sullivan 4, G. Desira Buttigieg, J. Paris 3, J. Cremona, J.J. Tabone, S. Gravina 1, M. Booij 2, A. Arrigo, M. Calleja.

Marsaxlokk: R. Bonnici, S. Cachia 1, R. Calleja, A. Farrugia, K. Grima Scott 1, C. Bugeja 1, E. Pisani 2, S. Cutajar 1, S. Frolov 2, G. Lubrano 1, D. Cassar, F. Testa, D. Debono.

Refs: I. Sciriha, A. Farrugia.

Division One SFs

The first semi-final from the Division One 2006 KO will be played this evening between Sliema and Sirens.

Both sides had to play second fiddle to champions Neptunes in the league and will be looking to save their season via the knockout.

Sirens start favourites as Sliema will be without a couple of key players including Hungarian Tibor Benedek.

Holders Neptunes' bid to make it a memorable double starts with a match against outsiders San Giljan tomorrow.

KO schedule

Today:
Division One semi-final
6.30 p.m. Sliema vs Sirens.

Tomorrow:
Division Two semi-final
5.30 p.m. Ta Xbiex vs Exiles.

Division One semi-final
6.45 p.m. San Giljan vs Neptunes.

Saturday:
5.30 p.m. Division Two final.
6.45 p.m. Division One final.