Neptunes risk losing pace at the top

The decisive phase of the BOV National League gets underway this evening with the first matches from the Division One and Two championships proper after the end of the Preliminary Round last week.

Champions Neptunes Vodafone are currently joint-second with Sirens Centro Casalinga, three points behind undisputed leaders Sliema McDonald's. The Blues, on the 14-point mark, showed better qualities and consistency in the first phase of the competition, winning all their seven matches and finishing with a +60 in the goal average column.

Neptunes have a mountain to climb and could find themselves drifting even further away from Sliema at the end of this weekend's programme of fixtures at the National Pool. No other result than a victory over Sirens will suit the Reds tomorrow in their opening match of the second phase.

In their last outing, Neptunes played against the same St Paul's Bay team and could consider themselves lucky to have escaped with a nine-all draw after coming from two goals down two minutes from time.

Sirens looked on their way to victory that would have derailed the champions' title defence ambitions by no small measure but they lost composure in the crucial phase of the last session.

Sirens protested heavily against some controversial referee decisions that went against them with the consequence that coach Marco Baldinetti and his assistant John Farrugia were dismissed from the bench.

One could easily notice on Sunday that Neptunes sorely felt the absence of injured goal-getter Steve Camilleri. His season looks to be over after hurting one of his fingers in a league match earlier this month.

His void will be filled by new signing Matthew Zammit who left San Ġiljan this week to join the Reds on loan until the end of the season.

Sirens must have rued their bad luck last weekend. They showed the better ideas against Neptunes with Juergen Borg and Karl Montfort outshining their team-mates. However, Baldinetti's men failed to preserve their lead, giving away a precious point.

This evening, Sliema should chalk up their eighth consecutive victory in the league at the expense of Balluta Bay team San Ġiljan Tropicana Juices.

In the Preliminary Round match, Igor Gocanin's team ran out easy winners with Hungarian Marton Toth scoring seven times in a 14-8 victory.

The Saints battled admirably in their matches with the big teams this summer. However, they could not match the qualities of the leading contenders and the team is bound to suffer even more now that Zammit has left for pastures new.

Programme

Today: 6.15 p.m. Ta' Xbiex vs Marsaxlokk; 7.30 p.m. Sliema vs San Ġiljan.

Tomorrow: 4 p.m. Otters vs Ta' Xbiex; 5.15 p.m. Exiles vs Marsascala; 6.30 p.m. Sirens vs Neptunes.