Sliema ASC still on course for historic final berth despite heartbreaking defeat at GZC Donk

GZC DONK 18

SLIEMA ASC 17

(7-3, 1-4, 5-3, 5-7)

Sliema ASC suffered a heart-breaking 18-17 defeat to GZC Donk in the LEN Challenger Cup semi-final first-leg tie in the Dutch city of Gouda, on Saturday.

A Jorn Winkelhorst goal in the final second of the match handed a dramatic win to the Dutch side but Sliema ASC are still in a good position to reach an historic place in the European club competition if they manage to win the return leg by a two-goal margin in Malta on March 8.

Despite the defeat, the Sliema outfit again produced a very impressive performance against the strong Dutch outfit with coach Giannis Katrouzanakis again fielding a team composed of only Maltese players.

The Greek coach lavished praise on his team after their stirring fightback.

“I am very proud of my players as they played very well in what was a very tough match,” Katrouzanakis said.

“The players’ response was very good and I firmly believe that we still have a great chance to make it to the final. Now it’s important that we work very hard during training to prepare ourselves very well for the return leg and make sure we give everything we have in front of our fans in Malta.”

It looked as though Sliema were set for tough afternoon as GZC Donk came out storming out o fthe blocks, winning the first session 7-3 with Kjeld Veenhuis standing out for the home side with a notching a hat-trick.

Sliema found the net three times through Dino Zammit and Liam Galea, both from  a penalty, and John Brownrigg.

The Malta champions responded in style in the second session when they managed to score four times through a brace from Zammit, and further goals from Elijah Schembri and Jayden Cassar to head into the interval just one goal behind – 8-7.

The third session was a hard-fought affair with both teams netting eight goals between them, with GZC Donk edgint the quarter 5-3 to head into the final session with a three-goal lead 13-10.

Sliema’s goal in this quarter came from a three-goal spurt in the space of one minute through Liam Galea, Sam Engerer and Julian Chircop who finished off a lightning transition.

The Blues produced a combative display in the final session and it looked as though they had managed to secure a draw when netting seven times.

Goals from Elijah Schembri, Benji Cachia (2), Engerer, Liam Galea and a brace from Dino Zammit, the second from a penalty that levelled the match at 17-all.

However, it was the home side who had the final say, as Schembri was excluded with substitution and Winkelhorst fired home the winner with just one second to go.

Sliema: N. Grixti, E. Schembri 2, L. Galea 3, J. Gambin, J. Cassar 1, B. Cachia 2, S. Engerer 2, D. Rizzo, J. Brownrigg 1, J. Chircop 1, D. Zammit 5, B. Busuttil.