The Balluta Bay derby between Neptunes Grimaldi and San Ġiljan All Care Insurance will bring to an end the round robin phase of the 2014 BOV Premier League championship tomorrow evening at the National Pool.
The six teams in the top flight will be split in two sections with the top three in the Championship Pool and the other contestants playing in the Relegation Pool and looking to avoid bottom place.
Although Neptunes and San Ġiljan are already assured of their place in the Championship Pool, along with Sliema Frank Salt Real Estate, tomorrow’s match could have a defining impact on the Saints’ title prospects this summer.
Wednesday’s 10-9 defeat to Sliema has left San Ġiljan eight points adrift of runaway leaders Neptunes and another defeat this weekend against the unbeaten Reds will all but end their aspirations of challenging for the title in this third and decisive phase of the 2014 championship.
Inspired by four-goal Zeljko Kovacic, San Ġiljan produced a stirring fight against Sliema but failure to convert a man-up set with less than a minute left on the clock proved fatal as the Blues held on for a priceless victory that lifted them to second place in the standings, five points behind Neptunes.
Neptunes will be keen to wrap up their second-phase commitments with a clean slate. Tomorrow, they will be boosted by the return from suspension of prolific goalscorer Tamas Molnar.
Meanwhile, this evening Sliema will go al out to apply some pressure on Neptunes when they face bottom-placed Exiles.
The Blues start clear favourites to bag maximum spoils but will be wary of another surprise result against Exiles who held their more-quoted opponents to an 11-all draw last month.
In Division One, leaders Marsascala Mor€ can stretch their lead to ten points with victory over nearest rivals Marsaxlokk Fischer today.
Programme
Today: 18.45 Marsaxlokk Fischer vs Marsascala Mor€; 20.00 Exiles Ferretti vs Sliema Frank Salt.
Tomorrow: 17.00 Ta’ Xbiex Amigos vs Otters Nivea; 18.15 Sirens Ritter Sport vs Valletta McDonald’s; 19.30 San Ġiljan All Care Insurance vs Neptunes Grimaldi.
Premier League
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Neptunes | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 127 | 87 | 23 |
| Sliema | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 99 | 92 | 18 |
| San Ġiljan | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 107 | 82 | 15 |
| Sirens | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 96 | 106 | 10 |
| Valletta | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 88 | 109 | 7 |
| Exiles | 9 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 74 | 115 | 3 |
First Division
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Marsascala | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 83 | 70 | 17 |
| Marsaxlokk | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 70 | 69 | 10 |
| Otters | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 64 | 66 | 8 |
| Ta’ Xbiex | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 55 | 67 | 1 |