Neptunes 11
San Ġiljan 7
(2-1, 3-1, 3-2, 3-3)

Champions Neptunes Vodafone restored some of their pride after Sliema edged past them last week when this time they defeated neighbours San Ġiljan Tropicana Juices in yesterday's last match. In earlier encounters, Exiles Elle-et-Vire and Ta' Xbiex Mermaids Paradise got the better of Otters and Marsascala Ocean and Sky respectively.

In the big match of the day, the Balluta Bay team, inspired by an in-form Steve Camilleri, made short shrift of San Ġiljan when defeating them 11-7.

It was a contest which Sergio Afric's boys dominated as they displayed more power and better teamwork against opponents who lacked conviction, particularly in man-up situations.

In a generally balanced first session, Neptunes took a 2-0 lead before the Saints trimmed the leeway by a goal. San Ġiljan equalised through a penalty early in the second session and at this point, Ivan Milakovic had to be 'rested' after incurring a second exclusion.

With San Ġiljan always wasting most of their man-ups, the Reds soon restored their two-goal lead, before a superb back-hand effort on a free-throw by Steve Camilleri made it 5-2 before ends were changed.

Neptunes went on to extend their lead to 8-4 with Steve Camilleri reaching his poker.

Meanwhile San Ġiljan kept messing up their extra-man advantages. The Reds kept pegging and took a 10-4 lead before slipping into semi-casual mode. That allowed the Saints to reduce the gap by three goals, but the impressive Steve Camilleri rounded his performance with another goal to make it a nap hand of conversions.

Neptunes
N. Gouder, A. Decker 1, J. Camilleri, K. Galea 2, E. Cachia, I. Milakovic 2, S. Camilleri 5, S. Gravina, D. Camilleri, N. Lanzon, J. Paris, M. Stellini 1, M. Pisani, T. Agius, R. Sciortino.

San Ġiljan
D. Camilleri, C. Spiteri De Barro 1, R. Gospodinov, M. Pace, A. Bianchi, M. Zammit 2, E. Arrigo, V. Kretkovic 3, A. Borda, P. Fava, J. Xerri de Caro 1, K. Lanzon.

Refs: L. Bianco, M. Dalli.

Ta' Xbiex 11
Marsascala 9
(1-1, 3-4, 5-3, 2-1)

The second match between Ta' Xbiex and Marsascala was a balanced affair which the veterans of Ta' Xbiex swayed in their favour in the latter part of the proceedings.

Marsascala, a largely youthful team, inexplicably could not summon enough energy to outpace their opponents. True, the southseasiders were again without the injured Fabio Valenti who is an influential player for them.

Ta' Xbiex, guided by Aldo Scerri, must be commended for a gritty display which saw them fight back twice from 5-2 and 7-5 deficits, thereafter neutralising their opponents' lead every time before finally nosing in front towards the end of the third session.

They then went on to contain their opponents, even though Marsascala's threat proved to be minimal in the end.

Ta' Xbiex finished deserved winners with Jan Surim and Roman Polacik each scoring a hat-trick.

Ta' Xbiex
A. Bianchi, J.J. Tabone, M. Manara, K. Sciortino, K. Engerer, W. Privitera, P. Paolella 1, R. Polacik 3, T. Debono, C. Zammit 2, J. Surim 3, A. Tanti, D. Pisani 2, G. Desira Buttigieg.

Marsascala
I. Bugeja, C. Gialanze 2, F. Valenti, A. Tringali 2, M. Borg Spiteri, L. Grixti, J. Licari 3, J. Cremona 1, S. Micallef 1, R. Cutajar, D. Cassar, M. Spiteri, J.C. Cutajar, J.C. Decelis, S. Farrugia.

Refs: I. Sciriha, A. De Raffaele.

Otters 6
Exiles 14
(2-4, 0-3, 2-2, 2-5)

In the opening match, Otters could only offer Exiles token resistance, and after taking an early lead they were forced to throw in the towel, thus allowing Joe Caruana Dingli's outfit to pick their spoils as easily as the 14-6 scoreline suggests. As was expected, Exiles had the measure of their opponents in all departments and veteran goalkeeper Adrian Cachia, who made the starting formation, had to deal mostly with distant shots, even if he was once beaten by his brother Leonard apart from the other five he conceded.

Otherwise, the French duo of Aurelien Cousin and Romain Blari led their colleagues to an easy afternoon outing with Exiles coach going for a posse of substitutions.

Julian and Karl Rizzo Naudi each scored a hat-trick to end as their team's top scorers.

Otters
R. Grech, J.P. Buttigieg, G. Zammit 1, S. Grech, B. Szabo, P. Szabo 1, K. Mizzi, J. Vella, C. Scicluna 1, M. Kallay 2, L. Cachia 1, C. Martin, G. Xuereb, S. Dimech, E. Farrugia.

Exiles
A. Cachia, J. Rizzo Naudi 3, K. Rizzo Naudi 3, D. Pace Lupi 2, T. Sullivan 1, R. Blari 1, M. Rizzo, K. Grixti, A. Zarb Cousin 1, A. Cousin 2, K. Enriquez, A. Arrigo, M. Calleja 1, A. Borg Cole, S. Cini.

Refs: R. Spiteri, A. Farrugia.

Next fixtures: Saturday: 6.15 p.m. Marsascala vs Exiles; 7.30 p.m. San Ġiljan vs Sliema. Sunday: 4 p.m. Otters vs Exiles; 5.15 p.m. Ta' Xbiex vs Marsaxlokk; 6.30 p.m. Neptunes vs Sirens.