There was only going to be one winner from yesterday's first match between Sliema McDonald's and Ta' Xbiex Mermaids Paradise. A victory for the superior Blues was a foregone conclusion, this and the ASA's inexplicably bad timing of the match which clashed with the Italy-New Zealand World Cup duel, made for almost empty terraces at the National Pool.

Having translated their ascendancy into a flurry of goals early on, Sliema's options were obvious, that of rolling the dice in terms of utilising all their available units.

Indeed there was only one team in it, with the hapless Ta' Xbiex conceding a deluge of goals even if they netted four in a row between the second and third sessions at a time when Sliema dared to make wholesale changes.

Jerome Gabaretta hit six for the champions while Ta' Xbiex's Tamas Gyrovath replied with four goals.

The second encounter was a replica of the first as Neptunes Emirates strolled past Marsascala Solid Base Engineering with ease.

The speed and power of the Reds, for whom six-goal Tamas Molnar was a threat in the centre, were the main elements for their superiority as they kept potting goals at regular intervals, never mind the use of all their tail-enders.

Except for the second quarter, during which the teams shared 10 goals, it was a monologue with Neptunes scoring almost at will despite having their more established players out of the water in the last session.

For the southseasiders, Hungarian Milos Koralji scored five goals as did Steve Camilleri for the Reds.

Summaries

Sliema 22
Ta' Xbiex 8
(7-1, 5-3, 7-2, 3-2)

Sliema: A. Bianchi, J. Gabaretta 6, N. Lubrano 1, P. Privitera 2, M. Meli 1, J. Soler 4, D. Paolella, M. Spiteri Staines 1, C. Debono 2, R. Kovacz 2, M. Rizzo 1, B. Rath 2, D. Abela.

Ta' Xbiex: N. Xuereb, S. Cachia, D. Caruana 2, A. Farrugia, G. Lubrano, C. Bugeja, J. Tabone, E. Bonello, D. Gabriel 2, A. Galea, I. Azzopardi, M. Spiteri, T. Gyrovath 4, K. Falzon, L. Borg.

Referees: M. Angilleri, S. Licari.

Neptunes 22
Marsascala 10
(7-2, 5-5, 6-1, 4-2)

Neptunes: N. Gouder, N. Lanzon 3, B. Lanzon, M. Stellini 1, D. Camilleri, S. Gravina, S. Camilleri 5, J. Camilleri 3, B. Buhagiar, M. Gor-Nagy 3, Z. Mizzi 1, T. Molnar 6, M. Pisani.

Marsascala: R. Sciortino, J.C. Cutajar 1, B. Szabo 2, M. Koralji 5, M. Borg Spiteri, L. Grixti, J. Licari 1, J. Cremona 1, S. Micallef, T. Agius, R. Attard, G. Pace, J. Bonnici.

Referees: A. DeRaffaele, P. Giordano.

Next Matches

Wednesday - 6 p.m. Sirens vs Marsascala; 7.15 p.m. Ta' Xbiex vs Exiles.