It came down to the final race.
Cospicua, determined to banish 19 years of hurt, and Marsa, themselves bidding for their first Victory Day success since 2005, were both in the hunt for the coveted Shield after leaving holders Senglea in their slipstream.
With three wins from four races and an advantage of 16 points, the Blues had the much-craved victory in sight going into the last race but Marsa were not ready to give up.
They rose to the occasion, winning the last race convincingly while Cospicua finished third with Senglea sandwiched between the two boats.
These placings meant that Marsa and Cospicua finished level on 64 points and were subsequently declared joint winners with statisticians claiming that this was the first time in the history of the September 8 Regatta that the Shield had been shared.
Forced to live in the shadow of rivals Senglea for much of the last two decades, the Bormla oarsmen and supporters played a prominent role in the post-regatta celebrations after Stefan Buontempo, the Parliamentary Secretary for Sport, presented the shield to the presidents of the two winning clubs.
The Marsa rowers were also elated and rightly so after coming from behind to win the Shield for the 10th time in their history.
For Cospicua, this was their 17th triumph and victory was made all the more sweeter by the fact that they had spoiled Senglea’s bid to equal their record of six consecutive wins (1978-83).
Cospicua will keep the Shield for the first six months after winning three races to Marsa’s two.
The Cospicua club were off to a flying start, winning the opening two A category races.
Their crew of Melchior Farrugia, George Frendo, Sven Refalo and Ryan Refalo pulled clear of their rivals to claim first place in the Tal-Midalji race in 4 minutes 54 seconds.
Marsa finished second ahead of Senglea.
Having taken 20 points for their race one victory, Bormla further increased their advantage over their fellow challengers after taking the honours in the frejgatini race while Senglea trailed in sixth and Marsa were disqualified.
In a tight finish, Bormla duo George Frendo and Redent Cassar, in lane two, just managed to pip the Vittoriosa boat crewed by Kieran Zammit and Nathaniel Caruana.
A number of boats appeared to stop in the final stages of the race, leaving the way clear for the two front-runners to battle it out for the 12 points.
Confirmation of Bormla’s success send their optimistic fans, as usual gathered at Pinto Wharf, into raptures as the Blues extended their lead at the top to 20 points.
The third race, traditionally known as Ta’ bit-Tnejn, was a no contest as Dennis Thornton and Clive Casha, of Marsa, dominated from start to finish.
Marsa surged ahead from the outset with Bormla having to settle for second place ahead of Senglea whose failure to collect maximum points from this race ended their hopes of retaining the shield for the sixth year running.
The battle for the prize was now a two-way affair between Cos-picua and Marsa. The former reclaimed the initiative by winning the fourth race, Tal-kajjikki.
A keenly-contested race was anticipated but Romario Brignone, the son of Charles Brignone who died tragically last year after being hit by a boat’s propeller while snorkelling, surged clear midway through.
The Cospicua oarsmen maintained a steady pace to finish ahead of Marsa with the faltering Senglea, whose usually boisterous fans began to leave early, in third.
The last race went Marsa’s way as their quartet of Clifton Camilleri, Casha, Thornton and Jurgen Camilleri stormed to victory in 5:16 with Senglea’s second-place finish preventing Cospicua winning the Shield outright.
Senglea made partial amends for their disappointment in the A category by winning the B competition.
They won only one race but placed in every event to amass a total of 56 points, four more than second-placed Kalkara who finished first in the opening two races for youths.
Category ‘A’ results
Tal-Midalji: 1. Cospicua 4.54; 2. Marsa; 3. Senglea.
Frejgatini: 1. Cospicua 7.26; 2. Birgu; 3. Kalkara.
Tal-Pass: 1. Marsa 6.04; 2. Cospicua; 3. Senglea.
Kajjikki: 1. Cospicua 5.27; 2. Marsa; 3. Senglea.
Ta’ b’Erbgħa: 1. Marsa 5.16; 2. Senglea; 3. Cospicua.
Classifications
Category A: 1. Cospicua, 2. Marsa 64. 3. Senglea 32.
Category B: 1. Senglea 56; 2. Kalkara 52; 3. Vittoriosa 42.
Last 10 winners
2004 Senglea; 2005 Marsa; 2006 Marsamxett; 2007 Mar-samxett; 2008 Senglea; 2009 Senglea; 2010 Senglea; 2011 Senglea; 2012 Senglea; 2013 Cospicua/Marsa.
Overall winners
Senglea 23 times; Cospicua 17; Marsa 10; Kalkara 7; Mar-samxett 2; Vittoriosa 1.