Today’s match between San Ġiljan Giuseppe’s and Sirens Ritter Sport heralds the start of the second phase of the BOV Premier Division at the National Pool, Tal-Qroqq.
The preliminary round of the National Championship was completed a couple of weeks ago with champions Neptunes Emirates topping their group before beating Sliema McDonald’s in an inter-group classification match to earn pole position and a five-point bonus in the initial standings.
A short break in the competition followed as Neptunes were successful in their bid to retain the KO title following a 12-8 win over rivals Sliema last weekend.
The Reds will not be in action in the league until Friday when they play Sirens.
In the KO semi-finals, both San Ġiljan and Sirens produced stirring displays but were ultimately ousted by Neptunes and Sliema respectively.
In a play-off on June 22, the Saints just managed to edge Sirens 14-12 to start the championship in third place with two points, one behind Sliema.
On that day, San Ġiljan had Matthew Zammit in the squad for the first time after a long period out to serve suspension.
Left-hander Zammit should prove to be a useful asset in Karl Izzo’s team as the Saints will be looking to up their game and avoid falling behind early on in the race for the remaining major honour at stake this summer.
Tomorrow, it will be Sliema’s turn to get into action as they play Exiles Ferretti, the fifth team in the top flight who start with no points despite some encouraging showings in the preliminary round.
Exiles were also made to figure in a play-off for a place in the Premier Division but there were no doubts about their position in the championship following a comfortable 22-7 win over Marsascala Mor€.
The second-tier championship also gets underway this evening with Marsascala, the Division One KO winners following a hard-earned 12-11 win over Otters Nivea on Saturday, playing Ta’ Xbiex Amigos.
The four-team league, to be contested over three rounds, also involves Valletta Sterling but no early favourite emerges here with all teams finely balanced and looking well-equipped to challenge for the major title in this category.
Standings
Premier Division
Neptunes - 5 points
Sliema - 3
San Ġiljan - 2
Sirens - 1
Exiles - 0
Division One
Marsascala - 4 points
Otters - 3
Valletta - 2
Ta’ Xbiex - 1
Programme
Today: 18.00 Marsascala vs Ta’ Xbiex; 19.15 San Ġiljan vs Sirens.
Tomorrow: 18.00 Otters vs Valletta; 19.15 Sliema vs Exiles.
Friday: 18.00 Otters vs Ta’ Xbiex; 19.15 Neptunes vs Sirens.
Saturday: 18.00 Valletta vs Marsascala; 19.15 Sliema vs San Ġiljan.