Neptunes kept up their clean sheet in the championship race and in the process clinched the President's Cup when they produced a solid performance to outsmart Sliema.
It was a match which was a marked improvement on some of the recent clashes between the top sides.
The Balluta Bay team, tactically more disciplined, were efficient on man-ups, having an 80 per cent success rate on five. Sliema were erratic on the extra man-ups with just two conversions on eight.
The Reds had a flying start when they were 2-0 up in under two minutes, both goals coming when John Soler was excluded. Discarding Soler temporarily, Sliema fumbled a man-up before Stellini made it 3-0.
The champions pulled a goal back through Edward Aquilina before levelling matters with two goals in the second session from Bianchi and the returning Soler.
Galea then made it 4-3. At this stage Sliema were getting wasteful on man-ups. Jostling in the centre, at both ends, was being annulled with fast conversion of zone blocking defenders on the man in the hole.
It remained goalless in the third session as Gouder, of Neptunes, pulled off a great save on a Paris flick.
Galea swam clear to receive a broken pass and make it 5-3 before Soler scored from a penalty to reduce the deficit with four minutes to go.
Controversy over Neptunes' sixth goal, when Galea touched goalwards on a man-up, had referee Mario Dalli signalling the point after consulting with colleague Ivan Sciriha.
The Blues messed up two crucial extra man sets with Aquilina being dismissed for good for showing dissent. Stellini sealed Neptunes' win with a late goal.
After the final whistle, President of the Republic Eddie Fenech Adami presented the cup to Neptunes captain Niki Lanzon in the presence of ASA head Robert Ebejer.
Earlier, Sirens won the first honour of the summer season when they dismissed Marsascala 5-3. This victory, besides helping the northerners make partial amends to their last-gasp defeat to Sliema in the previous match, also earned them the Sportswriters Association Cup.
For Marsascala, it was another fruitless outing and unless they sharpen their game they will find it difficult to make an impact on the competition.
A low-scoring first session had both teams sharing two goals with Marsascala going ahead early on and Sirens equalising late in the session.
It was still tight marking in the second session although there were attempts at zone blocking by Marsascala and double marking on Privitera from Sirens.
Within a split second from the change of ends, Juergen Borg nipped in to give Sirens a 2-1 lead. The latter then made it 3-1 through Jonathan Valletta, who later contrived to miss a penalty.
Montfort made amends with a great shot to give his team a 4-1 lead.
In the last session, it was a little more lively with Darren Ciappara pulling a goal back before Valletta restored the three-goal margin.
Ciappara's goal one second from time was of no consequence.
At the end of the match, Sportswriters Association president Charles Camenzuli presented the cup to Jonathan Valletta.
In the opening clash of a three-match morning programme, San Giljan easily saw off Otters.
The 4-1 scoreline in each of the first two sessions set things straight for Warren Debono's team who from then on could canter to a mammoth victory.
The Marsaxlokk-Ta' Xbiex match was a close affair though. The southerners were always in the lead but Ta' Xbiex fought back to reduce the arrears to 5-4 before two goals in Marsaxlokk's favour made it 7-4.
With two minutes to go Ta' Xbiex netted again to make it a fiercely contested finale. But their sixth goal arrived 23 seconds from the end... too late to trouble Marsaxlokk.
In the other match, Exiles took until the end of the second session to shake off the resistance of an improving Valletta.
The team from Sliema at last managed to find their scoring touch in the last seven minutes when they scored six times.
Summaries
Neptunes Vodafone 7
(3-1, 1-2, 0-0, 3-1)
Sliema Burger King 4
Neptunes: N. Gouder, N. Lanzon, S. Camilleri, K. Galea (3), E. Cachia (1), J. Brownrigg, S. Gravina, C. Zammit, David Camilleri, M. Azzopardi, Dean Camilleri, M. Stellini (2), M. Pisani (1).
Sliema: J. Cachia, J. Falzon, E. Aquilina (1), M. Galea Pace, M. Meli, J. Soler (2), J. Paris, K. Engerer, C. Debono, F. Cutajar, D. Paolella, I. Muscat, A. Bianchi (1), G. Lubrano, R. Coleiro.
Refs: M. Dalli, I. Sciriha.
Marsascala Breakers 3
(1-1, 0-1, 0-2, 2-1)
Go Mobile Sirens 5
Marsascala: I. Bugeja, C. Spiteri de Barro, A. Galea, P. Privitera, C. Gialanze, J. Xerri de Caro, J. Licari, L. Grixti, S. Micallef, K. Lanzon, P. Fava (1), M. Borg Spiteri, D. Ciappara (2), S. Farrugia.
Sirens: J. Caruana Dingli, N. Imbroll, J. Rizzo Naudi, M. Zammit, C. Cauchi, J. Valletta (2), J. Borg (1), D. Cutajar, K. Montfort (2), W. Degiorgio, C. Mercieca, J. Farrugia, N. Cassar, R. Attard, A. Tanti.
Refs: P. Balzan, M. Angilleri.
Otters 3
(1-4, 1-4, 1-7, 0-6)
San Giljan Kia 21
Otters: L. Borg, R. D'Amato, G. Zammit, S. Grech (1), P. Dimech, D. Saliba (1), P. Saliba (1), K. Mizzi, G. Buttigieg, M. Vella, D. Saliba, M. Tabone, K. Vella, S. Scicluna, R. Grech.
San Giljan: K. Schembri, K. D'Ugo (2), S. Mercieca (1), C. Bonello (1), P. Cachia (5), M. Zammit (4), M. Miggiani, J. Camilleri (2), G. Farrugia (2), A. Borda, S. Borg (3), M. Zammit, Adam Borda (1), J. Spiteri.
Refs: P. Balzan, P. Mawrin.
Marsaxlokk Freeport 7
(2-1, 3-1, 1-2, 1-2)
Ta' Xbiex M. Paradise 6
Marsaxlokk: R. Bonnici, S. Cachia (2), R. Calleja (1), K. Incorvaja, N. Kerr, C. Bugeja, R. Cutajar, S. Cutajar (2), G. Ghirxi (2), K. Enriquez, D. Cassar, L. Cachia, M. Fava, M. Cutajar.
Ta' Xbiex: D. Debono, G. Attard (1), E. Pisani (1), K. Sciortino, K. D'Ugo, A. Fero, J. Zammit, D. Schembri (1), T. Boyd, S. Balzan (1), P. Paolella (2), F. Testa, W. Privitera, K. Sciortino.
Refs: M. Caruana, A. DeRaffaele.
Exiles Rmf 11
(1-2, 3-0, 1-0, 6-1)
Valletta United Fortina 3
Exiles: A. Grech, M. Grima, M. Zarb (1), D. Pace Lupi (1), T. Sullivan (2), J. Vella (1), D. Sullivan, J. Cremona (2), J. Tabone (1), K. Rizzo Naudi (1), A. Arrigo, J. Cuschieri, M. Calleja (1), K. Camilleri (1).
Valletta: E. Arrigo, G. Sammut, Mauro Camilleri, Marco Camilleri, D. Degiorgio, K. Hyzler, A. Galea (3), J. Farrugia, D. Shaw, C. Saliba, K. Bruno, S. Decesare, P. Toledo, P. Bonnici, A. Arrigo.
Refs: M. Caruana, A. Fenech.