San Ġiljan Sir Alex will be wary not to underestimate their modest opponents and be complacent this evening as they play wooden spoonists Exiles Ferretti on their return to action after almost two weeks since their last league match.

As things stand at the moment, the Saints are sharing the top position in the standings with Neptunes Emirates, on 27 points.

However, San Ġiljan have a match in hand and, barring a surprise of major proportions, they’re expected to re-open a three-point lead at the top with victory over the luckless Exiles, the only team without points in the Premier Division so far this summer.

In the first round, Exiles almost shocked the Saints who hit their stride in the fourth session before sealing a 17-14 win.

The next match between the same two teams was one-sided though as Sergio Afric’s team claimed it 19-11.

Neptunes’ unexpected freefall of late continued to pick up speed this week as they lost the KO final to Sliema Frank Salt Real Estate in dramatic fashion.

In an encounter that lived up to its billing and a great advert to the local game, the Reds went down after a penalty shoot-out as both contenders were still locked on an 11-all stalemate after extra-time.

San Ġiljan were neutral spectators at the National Pool on Tuesday but deep down they must have relished the outcome of that energy-sapping clash knowing the upset was also psychologically damaging on Neptunes.

The Saints last won the national championship in 1995 and if they beat Exiles today, the Reds’ only hope of landing the league title for a fourth year running will depend solely on them beating San Ġiljan in the last league match on August 31.

That would mean both teams finishing on equal points and a decider required to determine the 2013 champions.

Tomorrow, third-placed Sliema will become the first team this summer to complete their com-mitments in local competitions as they play their last league match against Sirens.

This has been a particular season for the Blues who started badly and were never in the reckoning for the Premier Division championship.

Then, the ever-dependable Peter Decesare was called in to replace coach Afric and he succeeded in lifting the team from the ashes before leading them to the KO title, making sure Sliema will not finish the year empty-handed.

Meanwhile, business was back to normal this week at the ASA as Marco Manara reversed his decision to quit his post and resumed his duties as general secretary.

Last week, Manara disagreed with other executive committee officials over a decision taken by the Protests Board and stormed out of a meeting before handing in a resignation letter.

However, he was eventually convinced to return to the dis-cussion table where the matter was sorted out.

Programme

Today: 18.00 Marsaxlokk vs Ta’ Xbiex. 19.15 Exiles vs San Ġiljan.

Tomorrow: 16.45 ASA Under-17 vs Valletta; 18.00 Marsascala vs Otters. 19.15 Sliema vs Sirens.

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