Romanian Cosmin Florin Bonca belied his age to produce a sparkling seven-goal performance which helped Exiles Jet Services beat Sirens Ritter Sport with something to spare in yesterday's main match.
Bonca was in devastating mood not only winning all the swim-ups and orchestrating his colleagues besides scoring a bonanza of goals but he also helped his team to produce their best against an otherwise sloppy St Paul's Bay team whose only shining light was Yugoslav Vasovic, scorer of six goals.
All in all it was an impressive team performance from Joe Caruana Dingli's side who have confirmed that they have come some way this season.
Bonca's hat-trick in the opening session helped Exiles to a steady start as they took a 4-2 lead, three of their goals coming from well-timed breaks. A brace from Aurelien Cousin and another goal from the speedy Bonca had the Sliema team edging the northerners 3-2 in the second quarter for a 7-4 advantage by the halfway mark.
With Bonca's speed and deadly finishing still tormenting Sirens, Caruana Dingli's team extended their lead to 12-7 by the end of the third quarter.
Sirens appeared to be on a rope, having to recuperate five goals in the fourth session.
That last part of the game had both teams sharing four goals with Sirens missing more of their man-ups (scoring a total of four from 10). Meanwhile, Exiles potted five goals from seven extra-man sets.
In the end the scoreline reflected perfectly the disparity between the teams on the day.
In the curtain-raiser, Ta' Xbiex Mermaids Paradise stepped up their game in the third session when they hit Marsaxlokk for six to seal the match in their favour.
It was close in the opening sessions with Marsaxlokk reversing a 3-2 adverse scoreline to make it 7-6 by the time ends were changed. But then the southseasiders faded, allowing their opponents to pull away decisively, with Tamas Gyrovath ending up as top scorer with five goals followed Anthony Galea and Dave Gabriel on four each.
At least Marsaxlokk proved to be competitive but only in the first sessions, Adam Decker being their main standard-bearer.
Sirens 9
Exiles 14
(2-4, 2-3, 3-5, 2-2)
Sirens: J. Sammut, A. Attard, C. Mercieca, P. Borg, K. Montfort, R. Mock, T. Varga 3, D. Cutajar, J. Borg, C. Zammit, Y. Vasovic 6, D. Zammit, E. Arrigo.
Exiles: A. Borg Cole, J. Rizzo Naudi, S. Vassallo, C. Bonca 7, T. Sullivan, M. Calleja, J. Paris 1, K. Grixti, A. Zarb Cousin, A. Cousin 5, A. Cachia, S. Cini, K. Lanzon 1.
Refs: M. Dalli. G. Centineo.
Ta' Xbiex 17
Marsaxlokk 12
(2-3, 5-3, 6-1, 4-5)
Ta' Xbiex: A. Xuereb, L. Borg, D. Caruana 1, A. Farrugia 1, K. Zammit, C. Bugeja 2, J.J. Tabone, E. Bonello, D. Gabriel 4, A. Galea 4, I. Azzopardi, M. Spiteri, T. Gyrovath 5.
Marsaxlokk: A. Sammut, A. Decker 4, R. Calleja, D. Pace Lupi 3, M. Paris, K. Hyzler 1, K. Vang 1, A. Cauchi, E. Pisani, C. Gambin, T. Camilleri 3, M. Grima, N. Camilleri.
Refs: A. De Raffaele, S. Licari.
Today: 17.00 Marsascala vs Otters; 18.15 Neptunes vs San Ġiljan.