[attach id=263964 size="medium"]Sliema’s Damir Buric (right) trying to stop the ball from reaching Marko Avramovic. Photo: Paul Zammit Cutajar[/attach]
San Ġiljan Sir Alex are still alive and kicking.
Barely three days after their 12-6 drubbing at the hands of Sliema, and with the team bereft of their coach Karl Izzo, the Saints bounced back to inflict a third defeat on the Blues and thus severely dent Sliema’s chances of having a say for the title.
Under the temporary guidance of stand-in coach Svilen Piralkov, San Ġiljan played a diligent game, never for a moment allowing their opponents to extend their lead.
Sliema enjoyed the upperhand for most of the match until the Saints finally neutralised a 10-8 deficit to score a last-gasp winner through their persistent centre Karl Galea.
Sliema’s new player Damir Buric scored his team’s first goal after San Ġiljan had taken the lead as the Blues’ superiority was reflected in a 4-1 scoreline in their favour at the end of the first session.
Both teams maintained press tactics with quick doubling on the centre. San Ġiljan fought back to level the score on 6-6 after winning the second session 5-2.
The third session remained exciting as Buric scored his third goal before Michael Spiteri Staines opened a two-goal gap.
San Ġiljan kept pegging and reduced the arrears before a goal at each end closed the session on 9-8 for Sliema.
In the last quarter, Gergely Kiss made it 10-8 almost midway through but Biros and Avramovic levelled matters for the Saints.
Amid the excitement and missed scoring opportunities at both ends, Galea scored what turned out to be the Saints’ salvo.
In yesterday’s first match in Tal-Qroqq, Valletta United assumed sole leadership in Division One after convincingly defeating nearest challengers Marsascala Mor€ 14-5.
The City team were always in command and after a 3-1 first-session lead, they took over completely with a 6-0 score in favour in the second session.
Thereafter, they increased their lead to 13-3 at the end of the third session before they eased away to allow Marsascala to win the last session 2-1.
Milos Korolija and Joseph Keyes were the top scorers for both sides, with Valletta having no fewer than nine players on the scoring chart.
Afric for San Ġiljan
Sergio Afric will be the San Ġiljan coach for the rest of the season after taking over from Karl Izzo who tendered his resignation after a poor run of results late last month.
The much-travelled Afric, a former Malta coach who also had stints at club level with Sirens, Neptunes and Sliema, will make his first official showing on the Saints’ bench after the stop for the Euro Championships between July 11 and 14.
“Following the recent results we had in the league and KO, the committee of San Ġiljan ASC accepted the resignation of head coach Karl Izzo,” club president Daniel Aqui-lina said in a statement before yesterday’s match.
“On behalf of the committee and supporters, we thank Karl for his three years of sterling work and wish him the best for his future career.”
Afric started the current season with Sliema but left his post last month.
Summaries
San Giljan 11
Sliema 10
(1-4, 5-2, 2-3, 3-1)
San Giljan: D. Camilleri, J.C. Cutajar, C. Gialanze, K. Galea 1, M. Zammit 1, M. Avramovic 3, A. Bianchi, C. Spiteri de Barro, P. Biros 3, P. Fava 1, D. Zammit 2, M. Pisani.
Sliema: R. Coleiro, D. Buric 3, N. Lubrano, T. Sullivan, M. Meli 1, J. Soler 1, G. Kiss 2, E. Aquilina 1, J. Brownrigg, J. Gabaretta 1, D. Paolella, M. Spiteri Staines 1, C. Cluett.
Refs: A. DeRaffaele, G. Centineo.
Marsascala 5
Valletta 14
(1-3, 0-6, 2-4, 2-1)
Marsascala: K. Schembri, K. Rizzo Naudi 1, M. Pace, B. Muscat, J. Keyes 4, L. Grixti, G. Hedegus, J. Cremona, G. Desira Buttigieg, A. Sammut, D. Cassar, C. Mifsud, L. Caruana.
Valletta: R. Sciortino, S. Meli 1, R. Calleja, M. Korolija 4, N. Bonello Ghio 1, S. Cachia 1, M. Cordina 2, C. Zammit 1, C. Debono 1, R. Scerri 1, A. Arrigo, D. Filipovic 2, Z. Sciberras.
Refs: M. Angileri, P. Giordano.
Playing today
18.00 Otters vs Ta’ Xbiex
19.15 Neptunes vs Exiles
Premier League
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Neptunes | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 61 | 28 | 12 |
| San Ġiljan | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 62 | 62 | 12 |
| Sliema | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 49 | 55 | 6 |
| Sirens | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 34 | 46 | 3 |
| Exiles | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 35 | 50 | 0 |
Division One
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Valletta | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 73 | 49 | 12 |
| Marsascala | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 53 | 59 | 9 |
| Ta’ Xbiex | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 49 | 49 | 7 |
| Otters | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 38 | 45 | 4 |
| Marsaxlokk | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 41 | 52 | 0 |