The first phase of the BOV Premier Division came to an end last Saturday after 30 matches.

As was anticipated, champions Neptunes Grimaldi, San Ġiljan Crystal Finance and Sliema Frank Salt Real Estate finished in the top pool while Sirens Ritter Sport, Valletta McDonald’s and Exiles Ferretti completed the bottom one.

The title will be contested between leaders San Ġiljan and Neptunes, with Sliema who just scraped through at the expense of a very competitive Sirens, now only playing for pride.

Beyond the standings and the strength and aspirations of each team as they carry forward the points gained in the first two rounds, there are other statistical details which are very often in the background or go unnoticed.

These details such as the top scorers, the number of players in each team figuring in the scorers’ list, the number of players used regularly by each side and the success rate of scoring on extra-player sets and defending on a man less should also give an insight of the contestants’ performances.

The scorers’ overall standings in the league matches take pride of place.

All teams are represented in the top ten. There are two players each from Neptunes, San Ġiljan, Sirens and Sliema and one each from Exiles and Valletta.

The list is as follows: Steve Camilleri (Neptunes) – 35; Marco Cuk (Exiles) – 33; Christian Presciutti (Sirens) – 31; Guillermo Molina (San Ġiljan) – 29; Nikola Dedovic (Sliema) – 27; Boris Vapenski (San Ġiljan) – 22; Edward Aquilina (Sirens), John Soler (Sliema) – 21; Peter Biros (Neptunes) – 19; Gergely Kiss (Valletta) – 18.

Sliema top the list for the number of scorers for each team with 12, followed by Exiles, San Ġiljan and Valletta with ten each.

Sirens have nine and Neptunes, with seven, are the team with the least number of scorers.

Teams scoring most goals: Neptunes – 119, San Ġiljan 113, Sliema 110, Sirens 106, Exiles 86 and Valletta 85.

Teams conceding the least number of goals: Neptunes 77, San Ġiljan 84, Sliema 97, Sirens 98, Valletta 121 and Exiles 142.

Meanwhile, statistics, although relative, show the sides who made regular use of most players in descending order – Sliema/Valletta 12 players, Exiles, San Ġiljan, Sirens 11, Neptunes 9.

Extra-player goals success rate: Neptunes 51.85%, Valletta 50.74%, Sirens 40.69%, San Ġiljan 40.22%, Sliema 31.86% and Exiles 30%.

Player less defending success rate: Neptunes 69.44%, San Ġiljan 66.67%, Sirens 54.25%, Exiles 53.62% and Sliema and Valletta 53.48%.

Next fixtures
Friday: Division One – 18.15 Marsa-scala vs Ta’ Xbiex; 19.30 Marsaxlokk vs Otters.
Saturday: Premier – 18.15 Exiles vs Sirens; 19.30 Sliema vs San Ġiljan.

Premier League

Division One