Although San Ġiljan Crystal Finance were mathematically assured of finishing top of the BOV Premier Division standings on Wednesday, following Neptunes Grimaldi’s 12-10 shock upset to Sliema Frank Salt Real Estate, the coronation day for the Saints will be today when they play their last match of the 2015 championship.

The Saints are on a high after securing the ‘double’ and their first major honours to end a 20-year drought.

Last weekend, Marko Orlovic’s team scored the winner a few seconds from time to beat Neptunes 13-12 in a dramatic KO final at a packed National Pool.

Indeed, San Ġiljan had good reason to celebrate… they showed greater motivation and more commitment than the rest of the other teams this summer and the success they’ve enjoyed is totally merited.

However, for the Reds this has become a summer to forget after seeing their dominance in ASA competitions ended by their Balluta Bay neighbours.

Neptunes, who started the year with the Winter League title, hired Zoran Mustur as a replacement for Sergey Markoch in the off season.

However, filling the gap of the great Russian coach, who led the Reds to five league titles between 2010 and 2014, was always going to be a difficult task for anyone coming in his stead.

With Mustur on the bench, Neptunes still showed they had enough quality to sustain their challenge till the end of the season but the team cracked when under pressure.

San Ġiljan ran Neptunes close in the Winter League so they knew they needed something extra to topple the formidable Reds from their perch.

As regards Maltese players, the Saints were on a par with the other major contenders so the quality of the overseas signings became an important element in the race for the league title.

Before the summer season got underway, Orlovic took over from Emil Nikolic and San Ġiljan decided to bank their hopes on two high-calibre foreigners – Spain’s Guillermo Molina and Boris Vapenski, of Serbia.

In the end, all local players in the team contributed to San Ġiljan’s success but, perhaps, it was Molina who tilted the balance in his side’s favour when it mattered most as demonstrated in the KO final when he banged home the winner from the distance.

Vapenski also proved his worth and his class was all there to see when engaged in tight situations in defence particularly when dealing with Neptunes’ chief goal-getter Steve Camilleri in head-to-head clashes.

With San Ġiljan enjoying an unassailable five-point lead over Neptunes, today’s match is a mere formality even though no side will be keen to finish the season on a negative note, particularly the Saints who are planning another round of ‘double’ celebrations this evening.

Meanwhile, today’s programme starts with the opening play-off from the best-of-three series between Exiles Ferretti and Marsascala Nutrition Empire with a place in next year’s Premier Division at stake.

Exiles, who finished bottom of the top league this season, had enough time to prepare for the crucial matches coming up to retain their status in 2016.

However, Marsascala will have to regroup their forces after coming from two successive key matches – the KO final and league decider – both against rivals Marsaxlokk Fisher.

Pierre Borg’s team crowned a memorable summer by winning both honours but they will have to shift focus quickly back on the competition for the next few days as Exiles could prove to be a more difficult hurdle to clear for the southerners.

Standings

Playing today
Play-off series (1): 18.15 Exiles vs Marsascala.
Premier Division: 19.30 Neptunes vs San Ġiljan.