PAVI Depiro 49
Honey Athleta 38

(14-12, 9-8, 12-9, 14-9)

PAVI Depiro claimed their first honour of the season after beating Honey Athleta to inscribe their names on the St James Hospital Shield on Sunday.

Athleta had to do without injured forward Emma Moore as Depiro’s victory matured through flowing attacks that yielded them a better shooting percentage.

Depiro captain Sam Brincat was an inspiration to her team-mates with Nola Taylor and Maria Bonett also at the thick of the action and applying the finishing touches to their team’s moves.

In a closely-contested first quarter, Athleta came back to trail by a single basket 14-12. The match continued to be a balanced affair with Depiro 23-20 ahead at the change of ends.

Athleta opened strongly after the break with a Christine Xuereb three-pointer putting them ahead for the only time in the game – 32-31.

Depiro had a time-out and six consecutive points helped them to start the last ten minutes 35-29 ahead. Hard as they tried Athleta never gave the impression that they could turn around the result.

Depiro: N. Agius, G. Mifsud 2, N. Taylor 16, S. Brincat 12, M. Scicluna, M. Bonnet 12, M. Mifsud 2, A. Borg 2, T. DeMartino, S. Micallef, B. Zammit 3, N. Donghue.

Honey Athleta: M.C. Cilia, J. Xuereb 3, L. Cassar 4, L. Sciberras 14, E. Vella, I. Ofomata 14, A. Demanuele, R. Sciberras, F. Farrugia, S.J. Barbara, M. Duca, C. Mifsud 3.

Referees: B. Vassallo, C. Terri-bile, T. Helenius.

National League fixtures
Saturday – 14.45 Hibs vs Phoenix. Sunday – 13.00 Starlites vs Depiro; 14.45 Luxol vs Athleta.