The two joint leaders in the BOV National League, Sliema McDonald’s and Neptunes Emirates, will face each other in a direct clash tomorrow, a match that brings the first round to a close and considered by both contenders as crucial in their quest to win the title.
With the three other teams in Division One way off the reckoning, the two big rivals of Maltese waterpolo will once again contend the championship honours all by themselves after scorching their way to the top of the standings with eight wins from nine matches so far.
They drew the direct encounter in the Preliminary Round (9-9) even though on that occasion Sliema went on to have the last laugh after clinching the President’s Cup on penalties as the same match had doubled for league and cup purposes.
With Sergey Markoch at the helm, Neptunes look to have shown better consistency though, scoring goals at random and seldom giving their opponents a chance to stage an upset.
Centre man Tamas Molnar is reaping the desired dividends for the Reds along with Steve Camilleri who has shown remarkable progress since his move to the Italian league to play for Bogliasco.
Neptunes, however, still have to deal with the mighty challenge of Sergio Afric’s Sliema, the reigning champions.
Neptunes last won the league in 2005 and to chalk down their names in the ASA annals this year the Reds still have to find a way how to dampen the Blues’ spirit and determination, key assets that made Afric’s team almost unbeatable these past four years or so.
In their last outings, Sliema thumped Sirens 18-11 and Neptunes had the better of Balluta Bay neighbours San Ġiljan 17-8.
This summer there was no doubt where the honours will head to as San Ġiljan, Sirens and Exiles all fell by the wayside when playing against Sliema or Neptunes.
The three also-rans are now engaged in a platonic contest for third place in the final standings with the Saints and Exiles currently tied on eight points, two better off than the team from St Paul’s Bay.
Today, San Ġiljan play bottom-placed Sirens and victory for Marco Risso’s team means they move two points ahead of Exiles with both teams having played the same number of matches – ten.
Meanwhile, the Division Two championship sees the revitalised Marsascala starting favourites this evening to top the standings if they beat lowly Marsaxlokk.
Current leaders Otters will be looking to get back to winning ways tomorrow if they beat the other contenders for the title – Ta’ Xbiex. Last weekend, the Gozitans conceded their first defeat this summer when falling heavily to Marsascala 20-11.
Programme
Today: 6 p.m. Marsascala vs Marsaxlokk; 7.15 p.m. San Ġiljan vs Sirens.
Tomorrow: 5 p.m. Ta’ Xbiex vs Otters; 6.15 p.m. Neptunes vs Sliema.