Sliema ASC suffer penalty shoot-out defeat to EVK Zaibas in Challenger Cup semi-final

San Ġiljan win play-off to secure fifth place

Sliema ASC suffered penalty heartache after they suffered defeat in the European Aquatics Challenger Cup following a shoot-out against Lithuanian side EVK Zaibas after the match had ended 13-13 in Istanbul.

It was a bitter end to a match which saw the Blues snatch the equaliser in the final seconds, but in the shoot-out Niccolo Gitto and Jake Cachia saw their efforts hit the post to enable Zaibas to progress to the final.

The match was an eventful affair with Zaibas taking a 2-1 first session lead, with Sliema’s goal coming from Ivovic.

In the second session, there was little separating either side as they shared six goals with Elijah Schembri and a Gitto brace providing the goals for Sliema to leave EVK Zaibas leading 5-4 at the half-time interval.

In the third session, Sliema seemed to have taken control of the match as they dominated proceedings, winning it 6-2 and taking a 10-7 lead with one session to go.

Sliema’s scorers in the quarter were Ivovic, author of a hat-trick, Liam Galea (2), and Gitto.

However, Zaivas refused to throw in the towel and they mounted a late surge of their own as they scored three goals without reply to level matters.

Sliema kept fighting with goals from Jayden Cassar and an Ivovic brace forcing a penalty shoot-out.

But here, Zaibas managed to keep their poised as they scored all their five penalties to secure victory as Sliema missed their efforts from Gitto and Cachia.

Ealrier, San Ġiljan secured fifth place in the competition when they crushed AVK Branik Maribor 24-9.

It was a crushing victory for the Saints who surged to a commanding 10-6 lead by the halftime interval.

The match was all but wrapped up in the third session as San Ġiljan netted seven times against Maribor’s only goal.

Although the result was already beyond any doubt, San Ġiljan kept piling the goals in the final quarter when scoring seven more goals to seal a dominant win.

Ben Plumpton was San Ġiljan’s leading scorer with six goals, with Marko Vavic grabbing five while Jeremy Abela found the target four times.