Sliema, playing without a foreigner, conjured a late recovery to send arch-rivals Neptunes reeling to a second consecutive defeat which left them in third place in Group B of the Preliminary Round.
Now the Reds are facing a predicament of salvaging their ego in the cross-overs when they face champions San Ġiljan and Valletta and hence stake their chances in the Premier Division.
It had been a very close affair early on as Sliema responded every time Neptunes took a one-goal lead in the opening sessions.
The first session finished at two-all, with Sliema hitting back every time they were in arrears.
The match was dominated by rigid man-to-man shadowing. Dino Zammit, with a brace, and Lino Galea, author of a backhand gem, were the main threat for the Sliema side.
In essence, Sliema’s game had too much of the physical element but Neptunes’ muscle was not to be dismissed either.
Midway through the second session, Neptunes responded with two consecutive goals through Alec Fenech and Steve Camilleri.
Sliema were labouring to find an ideal shooting position against Neptunes’ unyielding rearguard as they changed ends 5-3 in arrears.
But Sliema hit back strongly to score three goals in quick succession in between Camilleri’s second goal to level the score on 6-6. The Reds’ stringent press was proving costly for Sliema as Camilleri completed his hat-trick.
In a pulsating third session, Neptunes lost their touch and Sliema took full advantage.
Sliema went ahead for the first time late in the penultimate session with Galea, hanging on two major faults.
Gabriel Pace equalised but Jayden Cutajar tilted the balance Sliema’s way again when giving his team a 9-8 lead before the start of the last session.
Sliema’s covering in front of Nicky Grixti was superb, yet Sam Gialanze still managed to find the net from a tight angle.
But Sliema were clinical in front of Alan Borg Cole, netting twice through Cutajar and Jayden Cassar as the Blues punished their opponents’ flat-out approach.
Borg Cole blocked Cutajar’s five-metre effort to keep Neptunes’ heads above water. At this point, Neptunes were down to bare bones with five of their units fouled out as Andreas Galea made it 12-10.
Luigi Mallia scored to set up a thrilling end but Sliema held on for the win.
The second match of the day resulted in a comfortable 16-9 victory for Sirens over Marsaxlokk.
After the opening fairly-balanced session, which had Sirens shading their opponents 2-1, the Northerners took matters in hand in the subsequent quarters as the potent Daniil Merkulov added three more goals to the brace he scored earlier.
Marsaxlokk still has some fight with Dusan Vasic scoring a total of six goals. Yet, Sirens kept the upperhand to run out deserved winners.
In the first match, Marsaskala overcame Ta’ Xbiex 15-13 in penalty shootout after the match was locked at 10-all.
Ta’ Xbiex recovered in the last session to send the match to a penalty shootout, only to see Arpad Babay’s men prevail 5-3.
NEPTUNES 11
SLIEMA 12
(2-2, 3-1, 3-6, 2-3)
NEPTUNES: A. Borg Cole, D. Kholod 1, S. Gialanze 1, G. Pace 1, J. Camilleri, L. Mallia 1, S. Camilleri 3, M. Castillo 1, J. Muscat 1, J. Bajada, A. Fenech 1, E. Mallia, M. Rossi, D. Bugeja.
SLIEMA: N. Grixti, Z. Mizzi, L. Galea 2, J. Gambin 1, E. Schembri, B. Cachia 1, J. Cutajar 3, D. Rizzo, J. Brownrigg, A. Galea 1, S. Engerer, D. Zammit 2, M. Castillo, J. Cassar 1.
Refs: R. Spiteri, L. Iacobelli
SIRENS 16
MARSAXLOKK 10
(2-1, 7-2, 5-2, 2-4)
SIRENS: I. Schembri, P. Serracino, J. Chircop 2, P. Borg 1, J. Cachia, K. Agius, D. Merkulov 5, I. Riolo, J. Zerafa Gregory 1, G. Farrugia 1, M. Sciberras 3, M. Azzopardi 1, J. Parnis, M. Ortoleva 2.
MARSAXLOKK: M. Farrugia, M. Lanzon, A. Cook 1, B. Zammit, A. Aquilina, J. Valletta, R. Spiteri, J. Pawley, R. Galea 1, J. Borg Tabone 2, D. Vasic 6, R. Attard, M. Brimmer, S. Mifsud
Referee: S. Licari, A. Pugliesi.
TA XBIEX 10
MARSASKALA 10
(Marsaskala win 15-13 on penalties)
(3-4, 2-4, 1-0, 4-2)
TA XBIEX: J. Micallef, J. Farrugia 1, V. Figliomeni, L. Grech Carr, F. Scardino 1, M. Jelaca 4, J. Saliba 1, A. Camenzuli, M. Soler, J. Culic 2, T. Fenech, P. Tabone 1, A. Theuma, G. Gatt.
MARSASKALA: A. Muscat, D. Ciantar, E. Manzi 1, J. Pace Mizzi, M. Carani, R. Greco 1, K. Navarro, M. Farrugia 2, K. Grech, G. Sammut 3, J. Ciantar 3, J. Colombo, M. Borg, N. Spiteri.
Refs: N. Mercieca, L. Iacobelli.
