A reinforced Sliema McDonald’s, boosted by the return from abroad of their valid centre Jerome Gabarretta, won a highly-flammable contest in which the players made it difficult for the referees to control.
The Blues thus have a 1-0 advantage in the play-offs series with the next tie to be played today. Both teams, though, will have to be in a calmer frame of mind to honour sport in the right way but at the same time give it their best shot.
The fans of both teams will certainly augur that today.
A hard-fought first session, marked by tight marking, ended with six goals being shared.
A more combative second quarter, verging on the abrasive, had Sliema suffering six exclu-sions against none earned.
However, the Saints frittered the last five favourable sets, in the process losing the session 3-1 and changing ends 6-4 in arrears.
It was more of the same in the third part of the game, with play-ers risking either being fouled out or dismissed with substitution for showing dissent.
San Ġiljan edged their oppo-nents 3-2 as Filep Trajkovic reach-ed four goals. It was 8-7 for Sliema at the end of this quarter with everything to play for in the last.
The trend did not change.
Thereafter, with the teams having shared 18 goals until about two minutes from the end, two conversions from Bogdan Rath settled it for Sliema as they held out a late surge by the Saints after Paul Fava had scored San Ġiljan’s 10th goal.
Neptunes Emirates’ guns may have gone blazing on Friday, but not yesterday, at least until the final session.
In fact, a below-par perfor-mance by the Balluta Bay Reds helped the otherwise bold Sirens Ritter Sport to keep within distance until the penultimate session.
Then, Neptunes unleashed their weapons to make it a comfortable victory and a berth in the final of the play-offs series.
The Reds eased away for a 3-1 lead in the opening quarter of the match.
Sirens, still with young Nicholas Grixti, who otherwise had a good game, between the posts went for tight marking to stiffle their opponents’ possession.
The battling northerners mana-ged to maintain the deficit to two goals on 6-4 in the next session as Neptunes were betraying signs of inaccuracy in their finish.
Neptunes grew increasingly casual and this made things easier for Sirens, determined not to be overrun by their opponents.
Four goals were shared for an 8-6 lead for the champions with the last session left.
However, the omens were bad for Sirens as they had Czaba Kiss and David Cutajar fouled out late in this session. Without resorting to wholesale substitutions, coach Sergei Markoch could relax as his boys stretched their lead to 12-6, with Steve Camilleri scoring his sixth goal.
In the end, it was free-wheeling for Neptunes as the gap assumed more familar dimensions.
Summaries
Sliema 11
San Ġiljan 10
(3-3, 3-1, 2-3, 3-3)
Sliema: R. Coleiro, J. Gabaretta 1, N. Lubrano, R. Fodor 1, M. Meli 3, J. Soler 1, D. Paolella, M. Rizzo 1, C. Debono 1, P. Privitera, B. Rath 3, J. Spiteri Staines, D. Abela.
San Ġiljan: D. Camilleri, J.C. Cutajar, N. Sutic 3, K. Galea, F. Trajkovic 4, K. Dowling, L. Grixti, A. Bianchi, M. Borg Spiteri, C. Gialanze, P. Fava 3, A. Galea, K. Schembri.
Refs: M. Angilleri, R. Daniele.
Sirens 8
Neptunes 15
(1-3, 3-3, 2-2, 2-7)
Sirens: N. Grixti, A. Attard, P. Micallef, P. Borg, C. Kiss 1, R. Mock, J. Borg, D. Cutajar 1, G. Krstonosic 1, C. Zammit 1, M. Grech, D. Zammit 2, C. Mercieca 2.
Neptunes: I. Bugeja, N. Lanzon 3, E. Aquilina, M. Stellini 1, J. Camilleri 2, K. Debattista, S. Camilleri 6, V. Gojkovic 1, B. Lanzon, S. Gravina, R. Sciortino, T. Molnar 2, M. Pisani.
Refs: P. Balzan, S. Pinato.
Playing today
5.15 p.m. Valletta vs Marsascala
6.30 p.m. San Ġiljan vs Sliema