Sirens produced the first major upset of the BOV Premier League season as they edged holders San Ġiljan 10-9 in a thrilling encounter, condemning the Saints to a second successive defeat.
It was a fully deserved victory for Sirens, who built on the encouraging signs shown during the President’s Cup, while San Ġiljan paid the price for poor conversion from man-up situations and a lack of creativity from the flanks in supplying their centre-forward.
Kydon Agius gave Sirens the perfect start before San Ġiljan responded with two quick goals, Jake Muscat levelling matters before Matthew Zammit finished from close range to put the Saints ahead.
Mattias Ortoleva restored parity early in the second session, but Sirens continued to look the sharper side.
A swift counter-attack, initiated by goalkeeper Nicky Grixti’s long pass, saw Gianni Farrugia find Matthew Mifsud in position 1, with the latter finishing confidently for a 3-2 lead.
Mifsud was in inspired form, extending Sirens’ advantage to two goals before Muscat immediately pulled one back.
Former Neptunes player Jake Muscat continued to dominate both ends of the pool, combining strong defensive work with incisive attacking play.
One of his interceptions sparked a San Ġiljan counter-attack that ended with Russell Caruana drawing the teams level at 4-4 by half-time.
San Ġiljan appeared to regain control after the restart when Ben Plumpton blasted home from distance to make it 5-4. However, Sirens once again found the answers, with Mifsud leading the charge as they overturned the deficit.
The Saints struggled throughout to break down Sirens’ disciplined defence.
Even with Daniel Angyal excluded, Sirens successfully resisted a prolonged man-up situation before Isaiah Riolo extended their advantage to 7-5.
Alec Fenech kept San Ġiljan in contention, but Angyal restored Sirens’ two-goal cushion. Plumpton and Jake Bonavia replied to level the scores at 8-8, setting up a tense finale.
Goalkeeper Nicky Grixti proved instrumental during San Ġiljan’s best spell, first denying Nikolai Zammit from point-blank range before producing another outstanding save with just 30 seconds left in the third session, diving full stretch to his right to keep out Jeremy Abela.
The final quarter continued at a frantic pace. San Ġiljan goalkeeper Jake Tanti made an important penalty save from Daniel Angyal before the crossbar came to his rescue moments later to deny Ortoleva.
Gianni Farrugia eventually restored Sirens’ lead at 9-8 before San Ġiljan’s defensive lapses proved costly, allowing Zach Mizzi to go unmarked at centre-forward and increase the advantage to two goals.
Muscat completed his hat-trick from a man-up situation to reduce the deficit to a single goal and set up a dramatic finish.
Fenech struck the framework as the Saints searched desperately for an equaliser before coach Giorgio Katsaounis called a time-out with one second remaining, withdrawing the goalkeeper for an extra player.
Sirens, however, held firm to block the final attack and celebrate a memorable victory.
Fresh from lifting the President’s Cup, Neptunes continued their impressive start to the season by opening their BOV Premier League campaign with a commanding 15-7 victory over Exiles, underlining their credentials as early title contenders.
The Reds were in complete control from the outset, racing into a 6-0 lead by the end of the opening session, with Marco Zuvela leading the charge by completing a first-quarter hat-trick. Exiles struggled to make an impact in attack, managing just a single effort in the period when Zac Micallef rattled the goal-frame.
Exiles finally got on the scoresheet early in the second session through Nathan Bonavia after nine minutes of play, but Neptunes continued to dictate proceedings.
Steve Camilleri proved equally clinical at the opposite end, reaching his hat-trick before the halfway stage as the Reds established a commanding advantage.
With the result virtually beyond doubt, Neptunes’ coach Alexander Ciric took the opportunity to rotate his squad during the third session, introducing youngster Marco Rossi in place of goalkeeper Matthew Castillo.
The changes allowed Exiles to enjoy their best spell of the match, with Konstantin Averka converting two successive penalties to reduce the deficit to 11-5. Andreas Fava restored Neptunes’ seven-goal cushion before the teams changed ends.
Julian Valletta completed his hat-trick early in the final session, while Averka remained Exiles’ main attacking threat, beating Zuvela before firing an unstoppable shot past Rossi.
Camilleri replied with his fourth goal of the afternoon before Mattias Azzopardi rounded off the scoring to seal an emphatic 15-7 victory for Neptunes.
MARSAXLOKK 16
BIRŻEBBUGIA 25
(5-4, 2-6, 6-7, 3-8)
MARSAXLOKK: M. Farrugia, Z. Cutajar Licari, N. Bogdanovic 8, N. Spiteri, A. Buhagiar, K. Dowling, S. Mifsud 4, J. Pawley 2, B. Lewis, J. Borg Tabone 2, J. Cauchi, E. Mallia, A. Micallef, M. Fenech, B. Schranz.
BIRŻEBBUGIA:M. Sladden, N. Bugelli 3, M. Cassar 1, J. Abdilla 1, J. Ciantar, M. Manara, S. Vidovic 7, A. Aquilina 1, D. Farrugia 1, M. Cutajar, M. Aquilina 7, M. Curmi 1, S. Livori, L. Axisa, R. Bugelli 2.
NEPTUNES 15
EXILES 7
(6-0, 4-1, 2-4, 3-2)
NEPTUNES: Matthew Castillo, M. Lanzon, S. Gialanze, L. Mallia, J. Camilleri, J. Valletta 3, S. Camilleri 4, Mark Castillo, M. Azzopardi 1, J. Bajada 1, A. Fava 1, M. Zuvela 5, M. Rossi, H. Shramm
EXILES: A. Borg Cole, M. Naudi, Z. Micallef, D. Pace Lupi, M. Martelacci, F. Scardino, M. Fenech 1, K. Griscti, K. Averka 4, K. Tanti, K. Navarro, N. Bonavia 1, M. Brimmer, A. Cook 1, G. Schembri
SAN ĠILJAN 9
SIRENS 10
(2-1,2-3, 4-4, 1-2)
SAN ĠILJAN: J. Tanti, J Muscat 3, N. Schiavone, R. Caruana 1, M. Zammit 1, J. Bonavia 1, B. Plumpton 2, J. Abela, N. Zammit, D. Zammit, A. Fenech 1, A. Muscat, D. Bugeja.
SIRENS: N. Grixti, D. Angyal 1, A. Galea, G. Pace, J. Zerafa Gregory, K. Agius 1, M. Ortoleva 1, I Riolo 1, P. Serracino, M. Scriberras, Z. Mizzi 1, G. Farrugia 1, A. Theuma, M. Mifsud 4, A. Dimech.
