SAN ĠILJAN 17
NEPTUNES 14
(4-5, 4-3, 4-1, 1-4)
SAN ĠILJAN: J. Tanti, D. Bugeja, D. Tully, R. Caruana, A. Younger 4, M. Zammit 1, J. Bonavia 2, B. Plumpton 3, J. Abela, N. Zammit 2, D. Zammit 1, N. Schiavone, Z. Attard, G. Bonavia.
NEPTUNES: M. Castillo, S. Gialanze 3, G. Zalanki 6, L. Mallia 1, J. Camilleri, J. Valletta 1, S. Camilleri, M. Castillo, B. Schranz, J. Bajada, A. Fenech 2, M. Azzopardi, M. Rossi, E. Mallia.
Refs: Raffaele Colombo, Ronnie Spiteri.
Penalty sequence: N. Zammit (SĠ) scores 1-0; Zalanki (N) scores 1-1; Abela (SĠ) scores 2-1; Gialanze (N) saved 2-1; Younger (SĠ) scores 3-1; Valletta (N) saves 3-1; Bonavia (SĠ) scores 4-1.
San Ġiljan moved one win away from reclaiming the Premier League title when they edged Neptunes in a penalty shoot-out and secured a 17-14 win.
The match turned out to be a ding-dong affair with momentum shifting from one end to the other.
San Ġiljan looked set to win the game in normal time when taking what looked like a decisive three-goal lead in the third session.
But the Saints lost their scoring touch in the final session to enable the Neptunes to claw themselves into the match, with their Hungarian powerhouse Gergo Zalanki scoring the crucial goals that forced a shoot-out.
However, it was the turn of San Ġiljan goalkeeper Jake Tanti to come to the fore as he managed to save two penalties and hand his team a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three final series.
San Ġiljan will be crowned champions with victory in Thursday’s second match while Neptunes must win at all costs to force a decider on Saturday.
The first session turned out to be a nail-biting affair with little separating either side.
Nikolai Zammit gave San Ġiljan an early lead but Neptunes managed to turn the match around as goals from Alec Fenech, from close in, and Sam Gialanze put them 2-1 ahead.
Ben Plumpton levelled the match, only for Gialanze to grab his second of the match and put Neptunes 3-2 ahead.
Matthew Zammit and Luigi Mallia traded quick-fire goals as Neptunes edged 4-3 ahead.
Aaron Younger showed his class when he masterminded a quick transition that saw him win and convert a penalty to make it 4-4.
But it was Neptunes who had the final say as Zalanki fired a fierce drive from a central position to make it 5-4.
In the second session, Neptunes seemed to take a stranglehold of the match when Zalanki put them two goals up – 6-4.
But that only forced a San Ġiljan fightback as quick-fire goals from Nikolai Zammit and Youngers made it six-all.
The Australian player struck again soon after to put San Ġiljan in front as Neptunes were struggling to breach Jake Tanti’s goal.
Ben Plumpton maintained San Ġiljan’s momentum as his thumping drive enabled his team to go two goals clear – 8-6.
Alec Fenech managed to halt San Ġiljan dominance when pulling a goal back with a firm drive before Zalanki again showed his class when converting a man-up set to restore parity – 8-8.
Ben Plumpton completed his hat-trick at the start of the third session to put San Ġiljan back in front.
Neptunes failed to respond and Jake Bonavia immediately restored San Ġiljan’s lead with an excellent strike before Nikolai Zammit piled more misery on Neptunes to make it 11-8.
Zalanki stopped the rot to give Neptunes a glimmer of hope, but Jake Bonavia immediately made it 12-9 for San Ġiljan.
Younger had a golden opportunity to put the Saints four goals up, but Matthew Castillo kept his team’s flickering hopes alive when saving his penalty shot.
Neptunes needed to strike early, and Sam Gialanze quickly answered the call to make it 12-10.
Jordan Camilleri looked odds on to push Neptunes just one goal behind, but was denied by Jake Tanti, and from the rebound, Zalanki hit the upright.
The San Ġiljan goalkeeper continued to be his team’s hero when keeping out Zalanki’s penalty.
Neptunes did manage to move one goal behind with a goal from Julian Valletta – 12-11.
But Younger immediately came to San Ġiljan’s rescue when firing a crucial goal to put his team back two goals ahead.
Neptunes refused to throw in the towel, and Zalanki scored from a distance to keep his team’s hopes alive before the Hungarian completed the Reds’ fightback to level matters from a penalty – 13-13 – and force a penalty shoot-out.
There was more drama as Neptunes lost skipper Stevie Camilleri, who was shown the red card for dissent.
