The first major honour of the ASA summer competitions will be decided this evening when Neptunes Emirates and Sliema McDonald’s clash in the final of the BOV Knock-out.
Neptunes are the holders of the KO after beating Exiles in last year’s final.
Exiles defied the odds in 2011 when they ousted Sliema in the semi-finals. The Blues almost suffered the same fate in midweek when they struggled to beat Sirens Ritter Sport.
In fact, the score over the two legs was even at 23-all after Sirens had cancelled a two-goal deficit from the first match.
However, the team from St Paul’s Bay were unable to complete their fightback and were eliminated after a shoot-out that in the end required 14 penalties to tilt the balance in favour of Sergio Afric’s team.
Sliema are the leaders in overall wins in the KO competition, having claimed the title 25 times but Neptunes will narrow the gap to four if they win today’s match.
The Reds booked their place in the final after staving off the bold challenge of Balluta Bay neighbours San Ġiljan on Tuesday.
Neptunes practically made sure in the first leg which they won by a seven-goal margin (14-7).
But, the Saints staged a spirited comeback in the return match as they bowed out of the competition with their heads held high.
San Ġiljan’s commitment was there and the score was closer this time but in the end Neptunes, despite being hampered by some profligacy in attack, still succeeded in claiming the spoils a second time thanks to a last-gasp goal from young talent Gabriel Pace.
The KO final will be the second decisive match this summer involving rivals Sliema and Neptunes.
On June 26, the Blues, inspired by the saves of Hungarian goalkeeper Istvan Gergely, had the better of the Reds in the President’s Cup in a low-scoring contest that finished 6-4.
Today’s first match at the National Pool will be the Division One KO final that sees Gozitan team Otters Nivea make their first appearance in the showdown.
Otters reached the final after beating holders Ta’ Xbiex Amigos 36-27 over two legs in the semi-final. Their opponents will be Marsascala Mor€ who will be looking to make up for last year’s upset in the final against Ta’ Xbiex.
On Thursday, the southerners beat Valletta Sterling 11-10 to complete a 24-21 aggregate win and book their place in the final for the second year running.
Playing Today
Division One KO final: 18.00 Otters vs Marsascala.
Premier Division KO final: 19.15 Sliema vs Neptunes.