Neptunes maintained their perfect start to the season by overturning a second-quarter deficit to defeat San Ġiljan, who slumped to a second successive defeat after fading in the latter stages once again.
Before the match, San Ġiljan staged a silent protest over what they described as controversial refereeing decisions in their previous encounter against Sliema, turning their backs on the main stand during the team’s presentation.
Their supporters also boycotted their usual stand in a further show of protest. San Ġiljan were also without suspended skipper Matthew Zammit.
Jake Muscat gave San Ġiljan the perfect start by scoring against his former club, but Jordan Camilleri replied immediately for Neptunes.
Dean Bugeja restored San Ġiljan’s lead from their second man-up opportunity before Muscat struck again on another extra-man situation to make it 3-1.
Luigi Dimech then stretched the advantage to three goals, prompting Neptunes coach Aleksandar Ćirić to call an early timeout in an effort to halt his side’s poor start.
The break had the desired effect as Mark Castillo finished off a swift counter-attack before Steve Camilleri reduced the deficit further to leave Neptunes trailing by just one goal.
Early in the second quarter, Julian Valletta squandered a man-up opportunity for Neptunes when he lost control of the ball, and San Giljan capitalised as Nikolai Zammit fired home a powerful left-handed effort.
Steve Camilleri converted Neptunes’ third man-up opportunity to level matters, but Nico Schiavone restored San Ġiljan’s advantage after profiting from a contra foul to go one-on-one with goalkeeper Matthew Castillo.
Camilleri then converted a penalty before Ivan Nagaev equalised, and Neptunes completed the turnaround when Camilleri netted his fourth goal to put the Reds ahead for the first time.
Nagaev extended Neptunes’ lead with an excellent finish from position five before Dean Bugeja replied for San Ġiljan.
Alec Fenech won a penalty which Jerko Marinic-Kragić calmly converted to edge San Ġiljan back in front, but the lead proved short-lived as Nagaev equalised from a man-up situation.
The momentum had now swung firmly in Neptunes’ favour.
Jordan Camilleri restored their lead before Nikolai Zammit was excluded for protesting, allowing Camilleri to convert the resulting penalty for an 11-9 advantage. Camilleri continued his outstanding display by adding another goal before Castillo made it 13-9 as Neptunes threatened to run away with the contest.
Alec Fenech pulled one back at the start of the final quarter, but Nagaev quickly restored Neptunes’ four-goal cushion to extinguish any immediate hopes of a comeback.
San Ġiljan refused to give up, however, with Muscat, Bugeja and Marinic-Kragić all finding the net to cut the deficit to 14-13 and set up a tense finish.
The equaliser never came, though, as Muscat’s late effort drifted wide, allowing Neptunes to preserve their unbeaten record.
Sliema recovered from a shaky start to overcome a resilient Exiles side with a strong late display, sealing victory after pulling away in the closing stages.
Exiles made an impressive start and stunned Sliema in the opening session by turning a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead.
Matteo Martelacci started the comeback before Konstantin Averka converted a penalty and Alastair Cook completed the turnaround.
Sliema quickly responded through Jake Cachia to level at 4-4, while goalkeeper Alan Borg Cole produced an important save to deny Alberto Barroso from the penalty spot and keep the scores tied at the end of the first quarter.
Barroso made amends early in the second session by restoring Sliema’s lead before Jayden Cutajar converted a penalty to extend the advantage.
Mark Fenech replied for Exiles to keep his side in contention, but Cutajar struck again to complete his hat-trick.
Exiles refused to surrender as Francesco Scardino scored twice in quick succession to level the match once more.
However, Cutajar had the final say of the quarter, finding the net again to hand Sliema a narrow 8-7 lead at halftime.
Sliema took control after the break with a dominant third session. Jamie Gambin opened the scoring before Barroso converted from another penalty and Dino Zammit added a further goal as the Blues scored three unanswered goals to establish an 11-7 advantage.
Martelacci responded for Exiles, but Cutajar struck again to restore the four-goal cushion, leaving Sliema comfortably ahead heading into the final quarter.
Nathan Bonavia and Tanti found the net for Exiles in the last session, but Gambin replied with two goals for Sliema before Sam Engerer increased the lead to five goals, effectively ending the contest. Cook and Averka reduced the deficit late on for Exiles, but Cutajar completed a remarkable six-goal performance to cap an excellent individual display and secure a convincing victory for Sliema.
EXILES 12
SLIEMA 16
(4-4, 3-4, 1-4, 4-4)
EXILES: A. Borg Cole, M. Naudi, Z. Micallef, D. Pace Lupi, M. Martellaci 2, F. Scardino 2, M. Fenech 1, K. Griscti, K. Averka 2, K. Tanti 2, K. Navarro, N. Bonavia 1, M. Brimmer, A. Cook 2, G. Schembri.
SLIEMA: B. Busuttil, A. Barroso 2, M. Porter, J. Gambin 2, J. Cassar , B. Cachia , J. Cutajar 6, D. Rizzo, E. Schembri 1, J. Cachia 1, J. Chircop, D. Zammit 2, M. Bonello Dupius, S. Engerer 1, S. Busuttil
Refs: M. Angilleri, F. Braghini.
SAN ĠILJAN 13
NEPTUNES 14
(4-3, 2-4, 3-6, 4-1)
SAN ĠILJAN: K. Manara, J Muscat 3, J. Marninic-Kragic 3 , N. Schiavone 1, R. Caruana, G. Galea, J. Pace Tomeni, J. Darmanin, T. Attard, N. Zammit 1, D. Zammit , A. Fenech 1 , A. Muscat, L. Dimech 1, D. Bugeja 3.
NEPTUNES: Matthew Castillo, M. Lanzon, S. Gialanze , L. Mallia, J. Camilleri 3, J. Valletta , S. Camilleri 5, I. Nagaev 4, Mark Castillo 2, J. Bajada, M. Azzopardi, M. Zuvela , M. Rossi, A. Fava, H. Schramm.
Refs: F. Braghini, D. Bianco.
