A-Z Electronics 65
Siġġiewi 54
(15-10, 21-12, 21-16, 8-16)

Not surprisingly, Athleta A-Z Electronics appear to be the sharpest team in these early stages of the season.

Strengthened by the arrivals of Steve and Dirk Schembri from Luxol, along with the return of Kristen Baldacchino from Loyola, Joe Galea’s team could not have hoped for a better lift-off as they compiled the first nine points of the opening match from the round-robin phase of the competition.

Siġġiewi, the league champ­ions and Shield holders, have held on to Marco Matijevic but they had some notable absentees at the weekend as Lee Ross is still down with injury and Louis Camilleri was unavailable. Pivot Alex Tabone has joined Loyola and Karl Borg opted to quit the game.

Playmaker Alan Borg has rejoined Siġġiewi from Luxol and Nigel Sultana moved to the champions from Loyola.

The Schembri brothers seem to have settled nicely in their new environs and their contribution was instrumental for Athleta to open a comfortable 36-22 lead at half-time.

Siġġiewi were unable to raise their game and Athleta continued to dictate matters, increasing their lead to 57-38 before the last 10 minutes got underway.

Eleven points without reply, 57-49, offered Siġġiewi some hope but Athleta soon clicked into gear to preserve their advantage and secure a morale-boosting win.

Athleta: M. Naudi 6, J. Zammit, D. Schembri 17, E. Bezzina 2, M. Giusti, C. Galea, O. Said 7, C. Calleja, A. Bonnici 14, K. Baldacchino 4, S. Schembri 15.

Siġġiewi: P. Shoults 15, M. Shoults, A. Cutajar, J. Doughty, E. Xuereb, N. Sultana 8, A. Borg 7, A. Micallef 15, J. Jetsen 2, M. Matijevic 7.

Referees: J.P. Sammut, C. Terrible.

BUPA Luxol 79
Tata Motors Loyola 66
(18-21, 20-14, 22-17, 19-14)

In an entertaining game, Luxol overcame a shaky start to begin the new season on a high note.

Following the departure of some experienced players, Luxol relied mainly on their youngsters and new signing Antoine Costa, the former Siġġiewi forward.

Loyola replaced Nigel Sultana and Kristen Baldacchino with Alex Tabone, ex-Siġġiewi, and Joshua Anastasi, who previously played for Qormi.

Loyola had the better start but Robert Azzopardi and Tom Paris led Luxol’s charge and until half-time John Tabone’s team not only cancelled the deficit, but they also changed ends 38-35 in front.

Loyola’s chief potter David Camilleri looked to have lost his touch and he was replaced by the team’s new coach Alfred Mifsud.

A 10-2 break for Luxol at the start of the third quarter proved decisive as Loyola never looked capable of coming back from 48-37 down.

They tried hard to get back in contention but Luxol stayed focused to wrap up the win despite some of their players showing clear signs of fatigue in the late stages of the match.

Luxol: E. Bonello, M. Mercieca 16, R. Azzopardi 22, A. Micallef Trigona 1, M. Micallef, A. Costa 5, N. Vasovic 7, T. Paris 13, A. Cremona 7, E. Caruana Montaldo, J.P. Bonnici 8.

Loyola: S. Pace 1, B. Zammit 9, D. Camilleri 17, C. Cassar, S. Borg, M. Cilia, S. Vella 9, A. Axiaq 8, G. Mihajlovic 17, G. Anastasi 3, F. Dicastro, A. Tabone 2.

Referees: E. Mangani, J.P. Sammut, C. Terribile.

Men’s Shield: Saturday – 3.45 p.m. Loyola vs Athleta. Sunday – 4.15 p.m. Depiro vs Luxol.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.