San Ġiljan player Ben Plumpton could not hide his delight after being named as the BOV Player of the Year as the Aquatic Sports Association of Malta.
Plumpton succeeds Sliema player Jerome Gabaretta who landed the top gong in 2019.
The 22-year-old, who played in position 4 and 5, played a key role in Dorian Pisani’s team this summer which went on to dominate the domestic scene, winning both the Premier Division title and the knock-out competition without conceding a single defeat.
“Words cannot describe how happy I am at the moment,” Plumpton told the Times of Malta when contacted just after the announcement.
“It has always been my dream to land this prestigious honour and to finally fulfil my dream is an unbelievable feeling.
“Last season was a very disappointing campaign for me as I failed to show my real qualities as a player and as a result, I struggled to keep my place in the team.
“At the start of the season I listed a number of objectives that I needed to meet and worked very hard to achieve them. I am indebted to our coach Dorian Pisani who helped me bring out my potential and my team-mates who without them I could not win this award.”
The Malta international player, who is also capable of playing as last man for San Ġiljan, said that he has no plans to rest on his laurels and is determined to continue and work hard to maintain the high standards he reached this season.
“Now that I won the player of the year award, it only increases my motivation to ensure that come the start of next season I will not drop down my standard but try and continue to improve as a player,” Plumpton, who had stints at Serbian club Vojvodina in 2016 and Italy’s Posilipo the following year, said.
“I have three more years on my contract with San Ġiljan and I’m determined to continue play at the highest level and help the club reach its objectives.”
Meanwhile, Niki Lanzon, of Valletta, was named as the Player of the Year in the First Division.
The experienced player, who had enjoyed a highly-successful career with Neptunes, joined Valletta this summer and help the capital club to a league and cup double.
A second San Ġiljan player that was awarded the Player of the Year award was Stephanie Tanti Desjardins, who shone in this season’s women’s league.
In the junior categories, Neptunes player Alec Fenech was named as the Player of the Year while Jayden Cutajar landed the honour in the Under 13
