Neptunes ease past San Giljan

Neptunes Vodafone pressed home their superiority when they faced San Giljan Zara in the last encounter of yesterday's programme.

They put their foot on the accelerator in the middle sessions to dismiss their neighbours in comfortable fashion. The Reds' edge stemmed from their well-timed swimming, shooting power and their wider array of potential scorers.

Their flexible rotation, when inserting different units in the centre, was also a telling factor.

San Giljan, who were wasteful on certain occasions especially on man-up sets, could only live with their opponents until the first part of the game. From then on, they threw in the towel.

A slow moving first session had Neptunes pipping their opponents on a 2-1 scoreline. Central zone cover at both ends was allowing freedom to the outside players to have a pot at goal. In fact, the Saints exploited the space they had to equalise.

But the champions seized their man-up situations to score three times on the trot before they made it 6-2 with just seconds left for the end of the second session.

By that time, San Giljan could not manage a breakthrough when they were enjoying numerical advantage.

Neptunes were showing their strength through their faster swimming especially in the third session with San Giljan unable to get to grips with their opponents' elusiveness.

Four goals by the Reds put them in a more commanding position before San Giljan reduced the gap to 10-3.

In the last quarter, the match, as a contest had nothing more to offer as Sergio Afric put in his fringe players.

The Saints took advantage of this and managed to arrest the collapse when coming out on top in the last part of the game on a 4-2 scoreline. But it had been relatively easy for Neptunes.

In the opening match, Ta' Xbiex eased past Otters to register their first win. The indications of a no-contest were clear right from the beginning as Ta' Xbiex ambled to a 6-0 first-session lead after which they extended their advantage to 13-3 by the halfway mark, with Roman Polacik scoring the bulk of goals for Aldo Scerri's team.

Five more conversions in the third part of the game made it 18-3 with the teams finally sharing six goals in the last session.

Sliema McDonald's had an equally free-wheeling field day against Marsaxlokk Freeport. There was abyss between the two sides as the Blues breached their opponents' rearguard like a hot knife cutting through butter.

Coach Peter Decesare blended a fair quota of tailenders with seasoned campaigners.

The scoring tempo was maintained in the first three sessions, with Anthony Farrugia looking on helplessly. At least Marsaxlokk did not draw a blank and had the platonic satisfaction of winning the last session, never mind Sergei Frolov's failure to find the net.

Otters 6
Ta' Xbiex 21
(0-6, 3-7, 0-5, 3-3)

Otters: R. Grech, M. Camilleri, G. Zammit 1, S. Grech 1, S. Cutajar, D. Saliba 1, P. Saliba, P. Bajada, K. Mizzi, C. Saliba 1, T. Simon 2, S. Scerri, E. Farrugia.

Ta' Xbiex: A. Tanti, S. Meli 1, M. Manara, M. Galea Pace 2, C. D'Ugo, K. Sciortino 2, M. Camilleri 1, R. Polacik 7, J. Tabone, K. Engerer 3, K. Sciortino, J. Vella 2, D. Pisani 3.

Refs: R. Spiteri, A. De Raffaele.

Sliema 15
Marsaxlokk 3
(6-0, 4-0, 5-1, 0-2)

Sliema: R. Coleiro, N. Lubrano, E. Aquilina 5, M. Rizzo 1, M. Meli, J. Soler 3, T. Varga 1, J. Gabaretta 1, C. Debono 3, F. Cutajar, D. Paolella, A. Bianchi 1, J. Cachia.

Marsaxlokk: A. Sammut, G. Attard, R. Calleja, K. Farrugia 1, C. Bugeja, E. Pisani, D. Schembri 2, S. Frolov, K. Grima Scott, G. Ghirxi, N. Agius, R. Bonnici.

Refs: M. Caruana, P. Giordano.

San Giljan 7
Neptunes 12
(1-2, 1-4, 1-4, 4-2)

San Giljan: D. Camilleri, C. Spiteri de Barro 2, A. Galea 1, C. Bonello, E. Cachia, M. Zammit 1, M. Cuk 3, M. Pace, K. Schembri, S. Borg, J. Xerri de Caro, K. Lanzon.

Neptunes: N. Gouder, N. Lanzon, G. Sammut 1, K. Galea 2, J. Brownrigg 1, I. Milakovic 1, S. Camilleri 4, L. Attard, D. Camilleri, S. Gravina, R. Sciortino, M. Stellini 2, M. Pisani 1.

Refs: M. Dalli, P. Balzan.

Friday: 4 p.m. Otters vs Exiles; 5.15 p.m. San Giljan vs Sliema; 6.30 p.m. Neptunes vs Sirens.

Saturday: Marsaxlokk vs Ta' Xbiex; 5.15 p.m. Marsascala vs Exiles; 6.30 p.m. San Giljan vs Otters.