Neptunes face Sirens in opener

Champions Neptunes Emirates open their second phase com-mitments this evening as the BOV Division One championship con-tinues with a two-match pro-gramme at the National Pool.

The Balluta Bay Reds are cur-rently joint-second in the stan-dings thanks to the five-point bonus they earned after topping the preliminary round. Neptunes are one point adrift of leaders Sliema McDonald’s who beat Exiles last weekend and today face San Ġiljan Giuseppe’s in the programme’s second match.

Buoyed by their success in the BOV KO, Sergei Markoch’s Neptunes will be determined to leave an instant mark with a strong showing against the St Paul’s Bay team.

Neptunes hold the edge over their opponents so far this season as they succeeded in winning all three meetings in league and knock-out competitions.

Sirens come into this match on the back of a 12-11 defeat to San Ġiljan last Friday which saw them forfeit a two-goal lead at midway point before going down to Filip Trajkovic’s last-gasp winner.

Sirens coach Predrag Zimonjic will expect a stronger response from his players today as they look to put their Division One campaign back on track.

In the second match, Sliema will be all out to make it two wins out of two in the second phase with victory over the Saints.

Last Saturday, the Blues relied on the scoring prowess of Hungarian debutant Mark Kallay, who netted six goals, to see off the bold challenge of Exiles 15-12.

However, their task will not be easy against a San Ġiljan side who showed great resilience in their comeback win over Sirens.

Today: (National Pool) 6.15 p.m. Neptunes vs Sirens; 7.30 p.m. Sliema vs San Ġiljan.