San Ġiljan beat Sliema in tense shoot-out to win BOV Winter League

SLIEMA         24

SAN ĠILJAN 25

(4-1, 4-5, 4-4, 5-7; 7-8)

San Ġiljan won the BOV Winter League after defeating rivals Sliema 25-24 in a penalty shoot-out.

The clash had all the ingredients of a dramatic affair with spectacular goals, spectacular saves and tense moments.

But in the end it was San Ġiljan who kept hold of their nerves to take home the Winter League trophy.

Sliema were off to a fast start as they managed to surge into a commanding three-goal lead.

Benji Cachia fired the Blues ahead before Liam Galea finished off a fast break to make it 2-0.

Cachia struck again for Sliema but San Ġiljan finally put themselves on the scoresheet when Matthew Zammit fired home with an excellent backhand.

However, it was Sliema who had the final say in the quarter with Dino Zammit putting his name on the scoresheet to restore Sliema’s three-goal lead – 4-1.

The second session turned out to be a goalfest with eight goals scored between the two sides.

Sliema started well with Sam Engerer adding a fifth goal with a fine diagonal shot from Sam Engerer.

San Ġiljan managed to stop the rot after they were awarded a penalty and Nikolai Zammit sent goalkeeper Benji Busuttil the wrong way to bridge the gap to 5-2.

The Saints were looking much sharper with the veteran Matthew Zammit continuing to bridge the gap with a firm drive.

Liam Galea finally got Sliema back on the mark with a long-range shot that was deflected past the San Ġiljan goalkeeper.

But here, San Ġiljan turned on the style with first Ben Plumpton reducing the gap before Matthew Zammit and Dean Bugeja netted quick-fire goals to pull his team level at six-all.

Sliema refused to panic, and they managed to regain control of the match with two goals late in the session through Jake Cachia and Liam Galea to change ends 8-6 ahead.

San Ġiljan started the third session in style as Nikolai Zammit bridged the gap to just one goal but Jake Cachia soon made it 9-7.

Goals from Ben Plumpton and Benji Cachia left the Blues two goals ahead.

But suddenly San Ġiljan ramped up the pressure and two goals without reply from Jeremy Abela and Nikolai Zammit made it ten-all.

As happened in the second session, Sliema regained control late on as goals from Jake Cachia and Sam Engerer handed them a 12-10 lead before the start of the final session.

San Ġiljan kept fighting and clawed themselves back into the match as goals from Luigi Dimech and Russell Caruana made it 12-all.

Then San Ġiljan took the lead for the first time in the match through a spectacular backhand from Plumpton – 13-12.

But Sliema quickly hit back with Benji Cachia restoring parity.

A clash between Liam Galea and Matthew Zammit saw both players excluded with a substitution with Ben Plumpton putting them 14-13 ahead from a penalty.

Sliema looked rattled, and Plumpton struck again to give San Ġiljan a crucial two-goal cushion.

There was more drama for Sliema as they lost goalkeeper Benji Busuttil, who was red-carded for retaliation.

Dino Zammit threw a lifeline for Sliema, but Russell Caruana made it 16-14.

Benji Cachia kept Sliema alive with a crucial goal and then they missed the chance to pull level when Elijah Schembri missed a penalty.

But Cachia did restore parity with less than a minute to play as the match went into a penalty shoot-out.

The penalty shoot-out turned out to be a marathon affair with 18 penalties taken.

In the end, Benji Cachia’s miss proved crucial as San Ġiljan were declared as Winter League champions.