Neptunes Emirates woke up to their responsibilities to inflict the first defeat on Sirens Ritter Sport who had otherwise enjoyed a clean slate after beating San Ġiljan and Sliema.

The Reds had centre Niki Lanzon again playing the tune in terms of goals, closely followed by the versatile Jordan Camilleri who netted four times.

Their five-goal flying start went some way towards determining a victory which at times was put to question due to the concertina-like turn of events goalwise.

In fact, the Reds had several four- and three-goal advantages every time whittled down to bare minimum before a brace towards the end saved them the day. They were fully aware that they had conceded two consecutive draws at the death in previous matches.

It was all Neptunes in the first quarter as they guarded their fort diligently and made the most of their openings to take a four-goal lead. Still it was difficult to supply inviting balls to the centre at both ends especially for Sirens, and breakthroughs were more likely to come from well-drilled shots or acute lobs.

Although the Reds opened a five-goal lead, the Northerners showed improvement to pull back on 6-3 by the half-way stage.

Neptunes appeared to be in control as they twice distanced themselves by four goals on 8-4 and 9-5. But Dorian Pisani’s team cut the leeway to 9-7 before the Reds opened a three-goal gap on 10-7 with one session left.

The Reds may have been justified when betraying signs of apprehension when their 11-7 advantage was reduced to 11-10 with about five minutes remaining, and then to 13-12 (after they again took a three-goal lead) with 85 seconds left.

But two conversions by six-goal hero Lanzon and another from Edward Aquilina in those last seconds put Neptunes’ minds at rest.

Sirens, especially through Alex Attard and Clint Mercieca (five and three goals respectively) had proved competitive.

In the second match of the day, a goal netted by Christian Gialanze four seconds from time gave San Ġiljan Firetech a close win which also meant that Exiles Jet Services surrendered their unbeaten record.

This was another ding-dong duel, with the lead being traded several times before the battling Saints sealed victory.

San Ġiljan twice took a one-goal lead on 1-0 and 2-1 before Exiles nosed ahead 5-3 by the time the teams shifted ends.

Karl Izzo’s pep talk during the long break must have been the fillip his lads needed as five consecutive goals without reply, netted by Kai Dowling (2), Karl Galea, Anthony Galea and Mark Borg Spiteri, put the team on velvet.

However, Exiles staged a comeback through two penalties converted by Timmy Sullivan and an equaliser at 8-8 by Kurt Grixti with less than two minutes left.

Then came that final joyous breakthrough for San Ġiljan.

As was expected, Sliema McDonald’s free-wheeled their way casually to victory over the ASA U-17 team, a platonic success given that no points were at stake.

The unedited Blues formation, including six young unestablished faces in relation to last season, had it all their own way even if they had to contend with the relative menace of the rising Dino Zammit, scorer of a hat-trick, who kept his record of at least one goal in every match.

In earlier matches, valid for the U-15 Winter League, Sliema won the main encounter of the day when defeating Sirens 12-2 to win the category honours.

Sirens 12
Neptunes 15
(0-4, 3-2, 4-4, 5-5)

Sirens : J. Sammut, A. Attard 5, P. Micallef, P. Borg 1, A. Sammut, R. Mock, J. Borg, M. Grech, C. Zammit 2, L. Caruana, D. Zammit 1, C. Mercieca 3.

Neptunes : I. Bugeja, N. Lanzon 6, E. Aquilina 2, M. Stellini 1, Z. Mizzi, K. Debattista, J. Camilleri 4, T. Agius, B. Buhagiar, S. Gravina 1, G. Pace, B. Lanzon, M. Pisani 1.

Refs: R. Spiteri, A. De Raffaele.

San Ġiljan 9
Exiles 8
(1-1, 2-4, 5-0, 1-3)

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

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

Refs: R. Spiteri, A. Farrugia.

Sliema 13
Asa Under-17 7
(5-2, 4-1, 3-1, 1-3)

Sliema: R. Coleiro, M. Spiteri Staines, N. Lubrano 3, P. Privitera 2, M. Fenech 1, J. Soler 2, D. Paolella 1, J. Spiteri Staines 1, C. Debono 1, C. Cluett 1, M. Rizzo 1, M. Agius, D. Abela.

ASA U-17: R. Leulen, M. Paris, K. Galea, A. Mifsud 1, E. Meli 1, K. Dowling 1, M. Fenech, K. Debattista, N. Portelli 1, D. Borg, L. Caruana, D. Zammit 3, M. Grech.

Refs: P. Giordano, S. Licari.