[attach id=268207 size="medium"]John Soler scored six goals for Sliema against Exiles yesterday.[/attach]

There was no question about the superiority Sliema Frank Salt Real Estate enjoyed yesterday. Exiles Ferretti were drowned in the first three sessions after which they could only offer token resistance as they suffered a 17-9 defeat.

An efficient rather than impressive display put the Blues on a firm base mainly procured by six-goal John Soler followed by Gergely Kiss with four.

With David Abela replacing the unavailable Ryan Coleiro in goal the Blues were after a steady initial platform to ensure smooth proceedings. Their 5-1 advantage after the first quarter was exactly what they needed as Soler, Damir Buric (two each) and Kiss got the goals.

Employing stringent press, Sliema maintained the lead in the second session despite Exiles losing two crucial man-ups when they were 5-3 down.

Soler netted two more after that, with Alexander Radovic pulling one back for 7-4 before the long interval.

In the third session, Sliema continued where they left off when they rammed home five goals to leave their opponents stranded.

It was not quite pointing one way in the last session as Exiles managed to keep afloat with Radovic scoring his third goal in a session where ten goals where shared.

Sliema could afford to be wasteful at this point.

After going four goals behind, Marsascala Mor€ typically pulled the strings to register a 13-6 victory over neighbours Marsaxlokk ASC in yesterday’s first match which again had Joseph Kayes heading their scorers’ list with five goals.

Marsaxlokk led 2-0 after the first session with their goals coming from Peter and Robert Kovacs.

Two more goals made it 4-0 but Marsascala scored three times to trim down the deficit to just one goal after the second session.

A 5-3 lead was neutralised by Marsascala with the returning John Licari netting the equaliser. His team’s edge at this time was rewarded by three more goals to one conceded before the session ended.

There was only one team in it now as Marsascala sealed victory comfortably with five more goals.

Summaries

Marsaxlokk 6
Marsascala 13

(2-0, 2-3, 2-5, 0-5)

Marsaxlokk: A. Xuereb, L. Friggieri, M. Agius, E. Meli, K. Grech, K. Mock 1, A. Galea, Bugeja, R. Kovacs 2, P. Kovacs 2, T. Camilleri, J. Fenech, G. Zammit 1.

Marsascala: K. Schembri, J. Licari 2, M. Pace, B. Muscat, J. Kayes 5, L. Grixti, D. Hedegus 3, J. Cremona 1, G. Desira Buttigieg, A. Sammut, D. Cassar 1, C. Mifsud, L. Caruana 1.

Refs: M. Angilleri, R. Spiteri.

Exiles 9
Sliema 17

(1-5, 3-2, 0-5, 5-5)

Exiles: I. Bugeja, J. Rizzo Naudi 1, S. Vassallo, D. Pace Lupi 1, N. Portelli, A. Radovic 3, J. Spiteri Staines, V. Cupic 1, K. Grixti, P. Borg 1, S. Galea Pace, D. Borg, K. Lanzon 2.

Sliema: D. Abela, D. Buric 3, N. Lubrano 1, T. Sullivan 1, M. Meli 1, J. Soler 6, G. Kiss 4, E. Aquilina, J. Brownrigg, J. Gabaretta, D. Paolella 1, M. Spiteri Staines, C. Cluett.

Refs: M. Dalli, S. Stappini.

Playing today
18.00 Valletta vs Otters. 19.15 Neptunes vs Sirens.

Premier League

Division One