San Ġiljan Crystal Finance were a relieved lot at the end of yesterday’s match against Sirens Ritter Sport .

They had just snatched victory from the jaws of defeat when they eclipsed defiant opponents with a goal nine seconds from time after having trailed throughout the proceedings and until 105 seconds from the end.

It speaks volumes for the Saints’ character and their fighting qualities that they recovered in extremis.

Matthew Zammit was pivotal in those final moments of the match as was Dino Zammit who netted the winner.

But one should spare a thought for Sirens who were certainly not the darlings of the gods in yet another match in which they gave as much as they got, and even something more.

Inspired by a great goalkeeping display from their young custodian Nicholas Grixti, as well as a well-marshalled rearguard, the northerners conducted the scoreline after an initial 3-0 advantage.

The Saints appeared rattled as they trailed gutsy opponents who followed Bogdan Rath’s gameplan to perfection.

Sirens twice had two-goal advantages with Grixti constantly pulling off splendid saves as the Saints could only score three on 14 man-ups.

Midway through the St Paul’s Bay team were dealt a mighty blow when their useful captain, David Cutajar, was fouled out.

Even so they kept battling and looked confident enough to withstand any reaction from their frantic opponents.

Unfortunately, those late surges by the Saints pinned them down.

In an earlier match, Marsascala Nutrition Empire established a 6-0 first session base before easing away to a comprehensive 18-7 victory against pointless Otters Nivea in Division One.

Led by their chief scorers Matyas Pasztor and Bela Torok, who netted seven and four goals respectively, the southerners were too strong for their opponents who could only pose some sort of threat from four-goal Srdjan Aksentejevic.

Summaries

Marsascala 18
Otters 7

(6-0, 2-2, 3-1, 7-4)

Marsascala: K. Schembri, J.C. Cutajar, M. Pace 1, C. Bonello 1, B. Torok 4, L. Grixti 1, K. Navarro, J. Cremona, S. Micallef 2, M. Pasztor 7, D. Cassar, C. Mifsud 2, B. Muscat.

Otters: R. Bonnici, M. Borg Millo, M. Paris, L. Gialanze, F. Kljajevic 1, E. Meli 1, G. Mizzi, S. Dimech 1, N. Paris, D. Borg Millo, C. Martin, S. Aksentejevic 4, C. Theuma.

Referees: P. Giordano and G. Sorgente.

Sirens 8
San Ġiljan 9

(2-0, 3-3, 1-3, 2-3)

Sirens: N. Grixti, Z. Mizzi 1, C. Presciutti 2, G. Pace 1, M. Grech 1, C. Kiss 1, M. Caruana, D. Cutajar, J. Napier, E. Aquilina 1, L. Caruana, A. Sammut 1, I. Riolo.

San Ġiljan: J. Sammut, P. Borg, A. Galea, B. Vapenski 2, G. Molina 2, M. Zammit 2, K. Galea, B. Grech, T. Said, A. Cousin, P. Fava 1, D. Zammit 2, D. Spiteri.

Referees: M. Dalli and P. Bensaia.

Premier League

  P W D L F A Pts
San Giljan 4 4 0 0 46 28 12
Sliema 3 2 1 0 41 29 7
Neptunes 3 2 0 1 35 23 6
Valletta 3 1 0 2 29 42 3
Sirens 4 0 1 3 38 43 1
Exiles 3 0 0 3 21 45 0

Division One

  P W D L F A Pts
Ta’ Xbiex 3 3 0 0 43 32 9
Marsaxlokk 3 2 0 1 45 32 6
Marsascala 4 2 0 2 54 47 6
Otters 4 0 0 4 35 66 0

Playing today
Division One: 16.45 Marsaxlokk Fischer vs Ta’ Xbiex Amigos.
Premier League: 18.00 Sliema Frank Salt vs Neptunes Grimaldi; 19.15 Valletta McDonald’s vs Exiles Ferretti.

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