Fleur-de-Lys Office Group 3
Valletta San Antonio 1
(25-23, 26-24, 17-25, 25-18)

Fleur-de-Lys Office Group are the first team to qualify for the men’s Fr Tony Parnis National Cup final, organised by the Malta Volleyball Association.

Last weekend, they beat holders Valletta San Antonio in a thrilling encounter that was played in front of an appreciative crowd at the Cottonera Sports Complex.

Valletta started the game strongly and took an early lead with successful attacks. However, Fleur-de-Lys managed to settle down and staged a stirring comeback that secured them the first set 25-23.

Both teams continued to give their all in the second set. Valletta went ahead with powerful spikes but Fleur-de-Lys were up to the task in defence and very efficient in attack.

There was little to separate the two contenders but in the end Fleur-de-Lys clinched the last two consecutive points following a powerful hit from substitute Maarten Haegdorens and a backcourt spike by Valerio Savio to claim the second set 26-24.

Valletta started to feel the pressure and had to win the third set to stay in the match.

They effected a few changes and dominated the set 25-17 to pull one back.

However, Valletta could not keep the momentum. Fleur-de-Lys up-graded their play and with middle blockers Antoine Busuttil and Gaston Camilleri brushing aside Valletta’s threats, libero Mark Duca found it easier to defend.

Quick counter-attacks from Louis Reynaud and impressive hits from Savio saw Fleur-de-Lys through for a hard-earned, but deserved, victory over valid opponents.

Fleur-de-Lys: Matthew Cumbo, Valerio Savio, Eric Sciberras, Antoine Busuttil, Maaerten Haegdorens, Aristar Borg, David Cutajar, Silvan Gauci, Mike Magro, Gaston Camilleri, Louis Reynaud, Mark Duca.

Valletta: Vince Pace, Owen Spiteri, Mark Soler, Robert Balzan, Cedric Bondin, Paul Tonna, Jonathan Chetcuti, Dalton Caruana, Stephen Riolo, Aaron Stivala.

Referees: Marvic Micallef and Maria Costa.

Attard through

In another National Cup match, Attard Tenovar qualified for the semi-final against Aloysians De-fenders when they beat Spiker Boys in straight sets.

Attard were the better team but Spiker Boys put up a determined fight and tried to keep Attard at bay with a tight defensive cover which made it harder for Attard to win their points.

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