The BOV Premier League for the 2014 season will be wrapped up this evening when champions Neptunes Grimaldi face Sliema Frank Salt at the National Pool.
It will be celebrations day for the Balluta Bay Reds who have won an unprecedented five league titles in a row – an unparalleled feat in local waterpolo.
Under the astute guidance of Russian mentor Sergey Markoch, Neptunes were in a class of their own this summer.
After winning the President’s Cup and the knock-out, they went on to set seal on the title last week when they beat Sliema 9-5 in a match in which Markoch’s men laid emphasis on a watertight rearguard to stifle otherwise brittle opponents.
Neptunes, propelled by the free-scoring Steve Camilleri, were not at their very best on the day but still were good enough to beat their opponents by a four-goal margin.
This time, motivation may not be high on their agenda even if they would certainly relish ending the league on a top note with an unbeaten run and in the process put some icing on their party cake.
On the other hand, the Blues will seek to temper their disappointing season with winning some of their spurs back even if this would be scant consolation for a team that oozed confidence at the beginning of the campaign considering their seasoned campaigners and their longer bench compared to that of Neptunes.
So far this summer, the two heavyweights of Maltese waterpolo have met four times.
The first two league matches were drawn while Neptunes won the last two, one in the knockout final and the last in the Champion-ship Pool.
Commenting on yet another successful season, Markoch, showered praise on his players for their determination and consistency in seeing the team through.
“It has been a truly great summer for the boys, who were very ambitious and hard-working,” he told Times of Malta.
“They were an integral part of our mechanism in which each element completed its function. They capped these last five years with 11 summer honours out of the 15 available.
“Tactics were devised around the players’ individual ability. I am happy that this gave the desired results amid the support of club president Matthew Bonello.”
Indeed, it was a question of deploying different game plans to outsmart their opponents.
Asked whether luck played any part in his team’s success, Markoch aptly replied, “Luck smiles on those who deserve it.”
Incidentally, this last match of the season will also mark the end of Tamas Molnar’s career.
The Hungarian’s five league titles with Neptunes in as many years have added gloss to the legendary feats of this triple Olympic champion.
Playing today
18.15 Championship Pool − Sliema Frank Salt vs Neptunes Grimaldi.