Sliema Frank Salt Real Estate’s slim chance of sneaking back into the reckoning for this summer National League title could be over today (19.15) if they fail to hand Neptunes Emirates their first defeat in the competition.

Sliema looked to have recovered their poise a week ago when beating San Ġiljan Sir Alex in convincing style to book their place in the BOV KO semi-finals.

However, only three days later they came a cropper against the same Saints’ side in a league match which Peter Decesare’s men lost 11-10 to slip further behind in the championship race.

Now, the Blues are languishing in third position in the standings with a massive nine points separa-ting them from the leaders. San Ġiljan are sandwiched in between in second place, three points less than the Reds.

In their last match, Sliema paraded new foreigner Damir Buric but despite his valid contribution on his debut, also hitting three goals past the San Ġiljan keeper, the Blues were unable to avoid defeat, their third from five outings this summer.

Neptunes are on a high and oozing confidence with every match they play. Indeed, it will be difficult for any team this summer to lower the champions’ colours if the Reds keep the good work going and the players follow coach Sergey Markoch’s orders to the book.

In midweek, Neptunes got their second-round fixtures going with another sound display and a comfortable 17-8 win over Exiles Ferretti.

Meanwhile, the Division One match between Ta’ Xbiex Amigos and Marsascala Mor€, originally scheduled for today, will be played next Tuesday.

The match was put back because Andreas Galea, of Ta’ Xbiex, is currently on duty for the Under-17 team at the Comen Cup.

Comen Cup

Malta vs Italy 2-17 (1-4, 0-4, 1-7, 0-2); Malta vs Serbia 3-23 (1-6, 0-6, 1-6, 1-5).

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