Steve Camilleri tops Bogliasco scorers’ list

Success, even if on a purely personal plane, has been synonymous with Steve Camilleri since he joined Italy’s RN Bogliasco four years ago.

Playing in his fourth Serie A season for the team from Genova, the Neptunes-bred forward once again ended as Bogliasco’s number one scorer in the 2011/12.

He also finished fifth overall out of well over 120 scorers in a league competition that includes some of the best continental players who also rank as top performers in the world.

Camilleri netted 48 goals, an average of 2.29 per match.

That total could also have been closer or even surpassed that of Antonio Petkovic (he scored 52 from 22 matches), who ranked one place higher in the general list.

As far as the Bogliasco scorers’ list was concerned, German Heiko Nossek finished second with 37 goals, with Italian national team player Arnaldo Deserti on 34.

Camilleri’s scoring statistics gain more in prestige when one takes into account that he finished above Tibor Benedek, Tamasz Marcz, Bogdan Rath, Predrag Zimonjic and Federico Pagani, players who graced Maltese waterpolo in recent years, leaving a significant mark on our game.

In the previous three seasons with Bogliasco, Camilleri also finished ahead of other talented scorers, a feat which attests to this player’s exceptional talent.

“At the start of this season I had set a target of 200 goals over these last four years. If my calculations are right it’s 203 in 94 matches since joining Bogliasco,” he replied when asked about any scoring benchmarks he had set his sights on.

Turning to his team’s performances, Camilleri’s satisfaction was not apparent at all this time.

“We had high hopes for this year given that the team had been strengthened after last year’s fourth place. However, we never really managed to pick up a rhythm and play on a consistently high level,” he said.

“In my opinion this was due to the changes made to last year’s squad. This included the introduction of four new players and a coach at his first experience in top-flight waterpolo.”

Referring to his team’s matches in the play-offs, Camilleri had no option but to be realistic.

“Our next game is against Pro Recco. Considering the clear difference in level, they will surely have no trouble going through to the semis. We then play for a placing from fifth to eighth.”

Camilleri’s stay in Italy after the regular season is set to be prolonged because of the play-offs, which could also help him add to the number of goals he scored.

After that he will be looking to a period of rest with his summer toils for Neptunes coming up next.