Again, the Sirens Ritter Sport clan, including coach Marco Risso, could only watch their team in a resigned disposition yesterday as Neptunes Emirates eased off to a mammoth victory to re-open a six-point lead at the top of the Premier League standings.

That the Reds cantered to this decisive 20-6 victory is an under-statement.

Their varied skills, width in their movement and scoring ability were again the ingredients of the Reds’ success. Most of the goals came from Steve Camilleri, with six, and Niki Lanzon and Tamas Molnar with five strikes and four respectively.

More than that it is Neptunes’ collective play, based on a sound rearguard, that stands out.

However, stiffer tests lie ahead.

Neptunes started in roller-coasting fashion, taking a 6-2 first-session lead with Lanzon and Molnar each netting twice and the others coming from Camilleri and Michele Stellini.

Except for two well-timed shots from captain David Cutajar, Sirens could do little else.

With their foot still on the pedal, Neptunes increased their lead to 10-4 by the interval. The six-goal gap was indicative of the cham-pions’ absolute supremacy.

The dismantling went on in the third eight-minute period as the Reds’ momentum was kept up.

One had the impression that Neptunes could score at will yesterday. A 6-1 session reading said it all.

Sirens had long looked a beaten lot. That they battled on bravely could only be of credit to them as they finished the match com-prehensively beaten, never mind their opponents easing off.

Valletta United regained sole leadership of the First Division with 18 points after defeating Otters Nivea in a match which saw their lead widening as time passed.

Their 4-0 and 5-2 winning margin in the last sessions was proof of this.

The teams shared two goals in a balanced first session which presented few scoring oppor-tunities. Another low-scoring ses-sion ended with Valletta 2-1 in the lead after Milos Korolija netted with a shot from the distance.

The City team exploited their superiority in the third part of the game when scoring four goals to extend their advantage to 6-1.

The last quarter was further evidence of Valletta’s edge as they won it 5-2, with Michael Cordina their leading scorer with three goals.

Summaries

Valletta 11
Otters 3

(1-1, 1-0, 4-0, 5-2)

Valletta: R. Sciortino, S. Meli, R. Calleja 1, M. Korolija 2, N. Bonello Ghio, S. Cachia, M. Cordina 3, C. Zammit 2, C. Debono, R. Scerri 1, A. Arrigo, D. Filipovic 2, J.C. Farrugia.

Otters: N. Grixti, G. Attard, G. Zammit 1, A. Borg, G. Tabone, A. Cachia, K. Scicluna, D. Schembri, A. Edward, S. Dimech 1, C. Martin, I. Vuksanovic 1, T. Grima Scott.

Refs: M. Dalli, P. Giordano.

Neptunes 20
Sirens 6

(6-2, 4-2, 6-1, 4-1)

Neptunes: A. Borg Cole, N. Lanzon 5, A. Sammut, M. Stellini 2, T. Agius, A. Ciric 1, S. Camilleri 6, J. Camilleri 1, G. Pace, J. Scerri de Caro, T. Molnar 4, C. Mercieca 1.

Sirens: J. Cremona, Z. Mizzi, M. Grech, J. Napier, A. Babay 2, Z. Kiss 2, J. Borg, D. Cutajar 2, A. Zarb Cousin, A. Attard, S. Micallef, J. Zampa, A. Grech.

Refs: M. Angilleri, S. Scappini.

Next matches
Tomorrow: 18.00 Ta’ Xbiex vs Marsa-xlokk. 19.15 San Ġiljan vs Exiles.
Saturday: 16.45 Marsaxlokk vs ASA U-17. 18.00 Otters vs Marsascala. 19.15 Sirens vs Sliema.

Premier League

  P W D L F A Pts
Neptunes 7 7 0 0 112 53 21
San Ġiljan 6 5 0 1 79 72 15
Sliema 7 3 0 4 77 78 9
Sirens 6 1 0 5 50 83 3
Exiles 6 0 0 6 52 84 0

Division One

  P W D L F A Pts
Valletta 7 6 0 1 97 61 18
Marsascala 7 5 0 2 78 76 15
Ta’ Xbiex 6 2 1 3 72 74 7
Otters 6 2 1 3 54 68 7
Marsaxlokk 6 0 0 6 56 78 0

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