Valletta regain scoring touch to demolish Finland’s Cestus

VALLETTA 21

CESTUS 5

(5-1, 6-0, 5-1, 5-3)

VALLETTA

J. Tanti, D. Bugeja, A. Galea 1, M. Castillo 1, S. Gialanze 4 , J. Cachia 2, L. Galea 3, J. Bonavia 3, J. Abela 1, N. Zammit 2, A. Fenech 3, N. Bugelli 1, N. Grixti.

CESTUS

N. Koskela, L. Jovanovic 2, O. Oskari 1 , M. Pipatti, S. Barany 1 , T. Silander, A. Hajdu 1, J. Ryhanen, K. Johansson, C. Vang , L. Heinola, P. Aalto , E. Montesastre.

Refs: Peter Radic (Slovakia), Filippou Polydoros (Cyprus).

Valletta were again firing on all cylinders yesterday at the LEN Challenger Cupafter beating Cetus Espoo 21-5 at the National Pool.

This was the second victory in three matches for Milan Cirovic’s team following another comprehensive 21-3 victory over KVT Komodor on Thursday.

The only blemish of the tournament, so far, was 15-11 defeat at the hands of EVK Zaibas which has dented our hopes for qualification.

Yet, the ultimate aim of the tournament is to gauge the team’s potential in preparation for the forthcoming commitments, that is, next year’s European Water Polo Championships.

And the tournament gave an inkling to Malta coach that there are some promising faces knocking on the door of the senior team. And by time they could be drafted into the side in competitive matches.

Malta obtained an emphatic victory, scoring no less than 21 times against their opponents from Finland, who were overwhelmed by the Reds and never managed to limit the adverse reading in any of the four sessions.

It was another strong performance from Cirovic’s boys who quickly gained control after taking a commanding 6-1 lead in the opening session.

They killed off their opponents in the second session when netting six goals to change ends 11-1.  This gave the chance to Cirovic to rotate his formation with reserve goalkeeper Nicky Grixti also allowed two sessions in the water along with other fringe players.

For statistical purposes, all players bar Dean Bugeja and the two goalkeepers inserted their names in the scorers list with Sam Gialanze topping the list with four goals.

Malta must defeat Turkish side ENKA today to qualify for the next round.

OTHER RESULTS

ENKA vs CETUS 22-1

KOMODOR vs EVK ZAIBAS 5-19