Winter League off to a start

A new look BOV Winter League, with play-offs to determine the winners and final standings, got off to a start yesterday afternoon.

In the curtain-raiser, Exiles Jet Services eased away to a 22-6 victory over Marsascala Solid Base, coached by Pierre Borg and largely made up of new young faces but including John Licari, Stephen Farrugia and two new recruits, Claudio Spiteri de Barro and David Caruana.

Exiles had David Pace Lupi back after a year on loan with Marsa­xlokk. The disparity between the two teams was all too obvious as the gap in the scoreline kept widening to reach unassailable proportions.

The final outcome was a true reflection of Joe Caruana Dingli’s team’s clear edge over their opponents in terms of swimming and know-how.

The crunch match of the day, between San Ġiljan Firetech and Neptunes Emirates, was a relatively competitive duel compared to the first encounter.

The match, however, exposed the weaknesses of both teams at this early time of the year as speed was at a premium and coordination left much to be desired. This was evident from the slow tempo and several misplaced passes.

Neptunes had Ian Bugeja making the keeper’s position his own after the retirement of Nicky Gouder, while Edward Aquilina was making his Reds’ debut.

Timmy Agius and Gabriel Pace returned to their fold after their spell with Marsascala.

For the Saints, Anthony Galea was also making a return.

Neptunes appeared to have a better cutting edge with Jordan Camilleri posing threats with his shooting, in the process netting four goals. He was followed by Michele Stellini and Sean Gravina with a brace each.

After going behind early on, the Reds recovered and looked comfortable even if not very convincing. Their lead hovered between three and four goals as their opponents, guided by Karl Izzo, could not quite get into the scoring groove.

In the last match of the day, which was not valid for points, Sirens Ritter Sport had the better of the ASA U-17 selection by 19 goals to 11.

The St Paul’s Bay team had newcomers Andrew Sammut and Sven Scerri included with their more-established units.

On the other hand, the ASA side, apart from Dino Zammit, scorer of seven goals, Benji Lanzon and Kyle Debattista, did not have enough heavyweights to put more pressure on their opponents for whom Charlie Zammit and Ryan Mock were the main scorers, the former with six and the latter with five.

Summaries

Marsascala 6
Exiles 22
(1-6, 2-7, 0-4, 3-5)

Marsascala: S. Farrugia, C. Spiteri De Barro 1, D. Caruana 1, D. Muscat, B. Plumpton 1, J. Licari 1, S. Micallef, S. Galea, K. Navarro 2, O. Zammit, B. Muscat.

Exiles: A. Borg Cole, J. Rizzo Naudi 4, K. Rizzo Naudi 4; D. Pace Lupi 2, T. Sullivan 4, M. Calleja, J. Paris 3, K. Grixti 1, A. Zarb Cousin, S. Cini 2, S. Vassallo 1, P. Paris, M. Paris 1.

Refs: A. Farrugia, R. Spiteri.

San Ġiljan 6
Neptunes 10
(1-3, 2-3, 2-2, 1-2)

San Ġiljan: D. Camilleri, J.C. Cutajar, A. Galea, K. Galea 1, M. Borg Spiteri 2, K. Dowling, L. Grixti, A. Bianchi 1, K. Mock, C. Gialanze, P. Fava 2, M. Fenech, K. Schembri.

Neptunes: I. Bugeja, N. Lanzon, E. Aquilina 1, M. Stellini 2, Z. Mizzi, K. Debattista, J. Camilleri 4, T. Agius, B. Buhagiar, S. Gravina 2, G. Pace, B. Lanzon, M. Pisani 1.

Refs: A. DeRaffaele, M. Dalli.

Sirens 19
ASA U-17 11
(6-2, 4-4, 5-3, 4-2)

Sirens: J. Sammut, P. Micallef, P. Borg 3, A. Sammut, R. Mock 5, J. Borg 2, D. Cutajar, C. Zammit 6; S. Scerri, C. Mercieca 3, J. Cremona, I. Spiteri.

ASA U-17: Z. Sciberras, M. Paris 2, K. Galea, B. Lanzon, E. Meli, K. Dowling, M. Fenech, K. Debattista 1, N. Portelli, D. Borg 1, L. Caruana, D. Zammit 7, K. Mock, M. Grech, A. Mifsud.

Refs: S. Licari, A. DeRaffaele.