San Ġiljan suffer heartbreaking defeat to Galatasaray in Challenger Cup

The Maltese side cannot reach the semi-finals and will settle for a place in the positional play-offs

SAN ĠILJAN 13

GALATASARAY          14

(5-1, 3-5, 2-2, 3-6)

San Ġiljan suffered a heart-breaking defeat in the Challenger Cup Final Eight Tournament when they conceded a late goal to suffer a 16-15 defeat to Galatasaray.

It was a costly defeat for the Saints, who have now seen their chances of reaching the semi-finals of the European competition come to an end, and at the same time, ensured that Maltese rivals Sliema ASC would progress to the last four for the second successive season.

It looked as though San Ġiljan had enough firepower to outlast their Turkish opponents when racing to 5-1 first-session lead.

Their goals came from their captain, Matthew Zammit, scorer of a fine hat-trick, as well as Marko Vavic, author of two goals.

But in the second session, Galatasaray hit back strongly and managed to bridge the gap 8-6 when the ends were changed.

In the second session, San Ġiljan’s goals came from their American player Vavic, scorer of three goals.

The third session turned out to be a balanced affair with both sides sharing four goals.

Nikolai Zammit and Vavic were on the mark for San Ġiljan, who, however, suffered a major blow when Matthew Zammit was excluded with substitution with less than five minutes to go.

San Ġiljan tried to preserve their advantage in the final session, but Galatasaray were in relentless form and managed to score six times to go 14-13 ahead with less than 45 seconds to go.

In the final moment, San Ġiljan called a time-out but could not find the equaliser as the Turkish side bagged their second successive win, which ensured their place in the semi-finals.

San Ġiljan will play their final group match later on Friday against Heybeliada ASC before taking part in the positional play-offs from fifth to eighth place on Saturday.