The waterpolo championship trek in both divisions got off to a start yesterday with Neptunes Emirates playing Exiles Ferretti in the Premier League and Valletta United coming up against Marsaxlokk ASC in the lower division.

Champions Neptunes looked in good shape as they got off their starting blocks to register a comfortable, if not emphatic, 11-6 victory over Exiles.

The Reds owed their win to a bright start which put them on velvet in the opening two sessions as they secured a 9-1 lead. After that Exiles plucked up courage and reacted well with Vojslav Cupic being their dangerman.

Neptunes, who fluffed several chances, may have also been discouraged by some strange decisions of the Italian referee Alessandro Sgarra.

However, that was no excuse for a somewhat colourless showing in the latter sessions, although Exiles are to be lauded for some spirited fare after the interval.

After going a goal down, Neptunes were soon in their stride notching five goals in succession to take a 5-1 lead into the second quarter. At this point, the absence of Michele Stellini did not have any adverse effect on the Reds who opened a 9-1 advantage at the half-way mark with Jordan Camilleri reaching his hat-trick.

However, they failed to add to their tally in the third session, wasting a number of chances through over-confidence and also fluffing a posse of extra-man sets as did their opponents at the other end.

Exiles were playing well at this stage and three goals in succession cut down the deficit to 9-4 while Neptunes continued with their trail of errors and blunt finishing.

The reliable Alexander Ciric showed his team-mates the way to goal to make it 10-4 before captain Lanzon netted his third for an 11-4 advantage.

But, two Exiles goals by Cupic and Portelli made it 11-6 at the end.

In the opening match, Valletta were too strong for their opponents Marsaxlokk with the 16-12 result indicating the superiority the City team had as a collective unit as well as individually.

They obtained a sound 5-1 base in the opening session but the southseasiders answered well to win the second session 5-3 for an 8-6 scoreline in Valletta’s favour at the interval.

Anthony Farrugia’s team again pulled the strings to stretch their lead to 12-7 by the end of the third session.

Valletta’s foreign duo of Djordje Filipovic and Milos Korolija, scorers of five goals each, were having a field day even if Marsaxlokk responded well in the last quarter, especially through four-goal Robert Kovacs to limit their margin of defeat to four goals.

Both teams were also well served by the Mock brothers – Ryan and Kurt. Both netted a hat-trick.

Summaries

Marsaxlokk 12
Valletta 16
(1-5, 5-3, 1-4, 5-4)

Marsaxlokk: A. Xuereb, A. Bajada, M. Agius 1, E. Meli 1, K. Grech, K. Mock 3, A. Galea, C. Bugeja 1, R. Kovacs 4, P. Kovacs 2, M. Grima, D. Spiteri, G. Zammit.

Valletta: R. Sciortino, S. Meli, R. Calleja, M. Korolija 5, M. Cordina 1, S. Cachia, R. Mock 3, N. Bonello Ghio, C. Debono, R. Scerri 2, A. Arrigo, D. Filipovic 5, Z. Sciberras.

Refs. M. Angilleri, S. Licari.

Exiles 6
Neptunes 11
(1-5, 0-4, 1-0, 4-2)

Exiles: I. Bugeja, J. Rizzo Naudi, S. Vassallo, D. Pace Lupi 1, R. Blary, N. Portelli 1, J. Spiteri Staines 1, V. Cupic 2, K. Grixti, P. Borg, S. Galea Pace, D. Borg, K. Lanzon 1.

Neptunes: A. Borg Cole, N. Lanzon 3, A. Sammut, K. Debattista, T. Agius 1, A. Ciric 1, S. Camilleri 1, J. Camilleri 3, G. Pace, S. Gravina, B. Lanzon, T. Molnar 2, C. Mercieca.

Refs: M. Dalli, A. Sgarra.

Playing Today

16.45 ASA U-17 vs Otters
18.00 Marsascala vs Ta’ Xbiex
19.15 Sliema vs San Ġiljan.

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