Winter League starts on Sunday

The 2007 Wilkinson Sword Winter League was launched yesterday when the draws of the pre-season competition were held at the ASA headquarters in Tal-Qroqq.

Holders Neptunes Vodafone, Sliema McDonalds, Sirens and San Giljan Zara will be taking part along with Malta U-18 who will appear as guest team to pep up their preparation ahead of the European Youth Championships in Malta in September.

ASA president Robbie Ebejer said the Winter League represents an ideal test to gauge the teams' potential ahead of the National Championship which starts in June.

"The idea behind this competition was to provide our teams with enough match practice to reach the National Championship in top shape," Ebejer said.

"The Winter League is a useful competition and that is mirrored in the highly exciting matches we had recently.

"Our hope is that Malta U-18 will also garner enough experience to achieve a good result in the Europeans."

The Winter League starts on Sunday when Neptunes take on Malta U-18, an out-of-competition match.

The first match with points at stake will be played on Sunday, April 22 when national champions Neptunes take on Sirens.

The Winter League, to be played on two rounds, will be completed on June 3. No team is expected to field a foreigner in this tournament but there was a complete overhaul in the coaching line-up.

In fact, only Neptunes retained last year's coaching duo - Sergio Afric and Karl Izzo.

Sliema have Igor Gocanin at the helm while Sirens appointed Pierre Borg, the national team coach.

San Giljan have experienced Italian Claudio Silvestri as their new coach.

Opening fixtures

April 15: 11.30 a.m. Neptunes vs Malta U-18.

April 22: 10.30 a.m. Neptunes vs Sirens; 11.45 a.m. San Giljan vs Sliema.