Sirens 17
Marsaxlokk 9
(5-2, 3-3, 3-3, 6-1)
Sirens Centro Casalinga and Sliema McDonald's easily knocked the stuffing out of Marsaxlokk Freeport and Exiles Elle-et-Vire respectively as their armoury was too strong for the unfancied opponents yesterday.
In the first match, although Marsaxlokk paraded the familiar Sergey Frolov and newcomer Dmitry Vankevich as their foreign signings, Sirens still proved to be a stronger outfit and stole a march on the southseasiders, even if Ian Azzopardi's team made them stretch every sinew for their spoils at least until the third part of the game.
A first session 5-2 advantage turned out to be a cushion for Marco Baldinotti's boys which eventually stretched to very comfortable proportions in the last session when Sirens re-extended their lead from 11-8 to a final scoreline of 17-9.
Until that third quarter, Marsaxlokk had fought hard to keep the deficit to an acceptable limit, but then they ran out of steam as Arpad Babay, Paul Privitera and Clint Mercieca topped the northerners' scoring charge.
Sirens
A. Grech, R. Mock 1, T. Galea, P. Privitera 3, A. Babay 4, A. Baranyi 2, J. Borg 2, D. Cutajar 1, K. Montfort 1, R. Scerri, C. Mercieca 3, P. Borg, J. Sammut, A. Attard.
Marsaxlokk
R. Bonnici, S. Cachia 1, G. Attard, A. Farrugia, K. Farrugia, C. Bugeja, D. Schembri, D. Vankevich 4, S. Frolov 3, K. Grima Scott, G. Ghirxi, M. Zammit 1, C. Sciortino, E. Bonello, M. Buttigieg.
Referees M. Angilleri, M. Caruana.
Sliema 16
Exiles 9
(5-1, 2-3, 5-2, 4-3)
In the subsequent encounter, Sliema's effective movement and power in the offensive phase found no response from Exiles and their decisive victory was a reflection of their undoubted edge, as the Blues were led from the bench by Igor Gocanin for the first time this season.
An early 5-1 lead sounded the alarm bells for Exiles who could not quite keep the Blues' fury in check despite a partial recovery which helped them cut down the deficit to 7-4 by the half-way stage.
But Sliema were in bullish mood and never allowed their opponents to get closer scorewise with Marton Todt's eye for goal standing out. Exiles, who had veteran goalkeeper Adrian Cachia, ex-Neptunes, coming out of retirement and making an appearance in the third session, did not possess enough knowhow to outwit their opponents, never mind their fighting qualities.
Playing today: 5.15 p.m. Neptunes vs Ta' Xbiex; 6.30 p.m. San Ġiljan vs Marsascala.
Sliema
J. Cachia, M. Toth 5, E. Aquilina 2, R. Fodor 2, M. Meli, J. Soler 3, D. Paolella, J. Brownrigg 1, C. Debono 1, J. Valletta 1, J. Spiteri Staines, N. Lubrano, J. Gabaretta 1, M. Manara, R. Coleiro.
Exiles
A. Borg Cole, J. Rizzo Naudi 3, K. Rizzo Naudi 1, D. Pace Lupi, R. Blari 3, M. Rizzo, K. Grixti, A. Zarb Cousin, A. Cousin 1, K. Enriquez, S. Vassallo, M. Calleja 1, A. Cachia, S. Cini.
Referees A. De Raffaele, A. Farrugia.