Sport• 6 October 2002

Sliema confirm their strength to win title 27

The year 2002 will be remembered for Sliema Burger King for their 27th title win. It was their second in a row but as several of their players told MaltaToday it is how they won the league this year that was so exciting. Last year Sliema won the title after beating Sirens in a decider thanks to an extratime winner scored by John Paris.

This time round two important wins over Neptunes, 8-4 and 6-4 made them go top of the table and stay there. Again the league was closely fought but also thanks to Sergio Afric's shrewd tactics, the Blues managed to do it again.

The season kicked off on a very low key for Sliema. Their form was not good with Neptunes and Sirens leading the way. But Sliema's resilience and flair showed everyone the way. Although not being part of the first seven, the return of Marco Manara was vital for Sliema and the signing of Ivan Muscat from Exiles worked wonders.

The celebrations on winning the league championship went long into the night of last Sunday. The Blues have always been at the forefront of local waterpolo. Besides they are the team that has most won honours in Malta. They are the only team to have won the quadruple crown, the Winter League, the President's Cup, the Division One League and the K.O. competition in 1998.

Sliema A.S.C. are also the only side o win the "Team of the Year award." They also won the double by winning the Division One League and K.O. Cup competition on 10 occasions.

The Division One Championship has been played for a total of 67 occasions and Sliema have won 27 titles. Neptunes are second with 15 title wins, Valletta 11, San Giljan 8, Sirens 5 and Marsascala 1.

Sliema won the Knock-Out competition most often also. From a total of 56 occasions Sliema won 20, Neptunes 16, San Giljan and Valletta, Sirens 5.

When the club planned the team for the 2002 campaign, it was aware that they had a squad of players who in the previous year had also won the title. The aim was to repeat it. Thus they retouched the squad and in everybody's view the team's strength was awesome. It had great experienced players plus the promising youngsters were now a reality. Most of all the team had a long bench, which guaranteed that at no time during a game would there be a weak team in the water.

Paradoxically being a great team might have proved to be psychological burden on the players. The Sliema fans are used to success. The Sliema club has set such high standards in the past that little failures such those experienced at the beginning of the season are salutary.

As expected, after the match, big celebrations followed at the Sliema pitch with many Sliema supporters attending in order to celebrate.

Croatian born Sergio Afric won the third consecutive league and the second won with Sliema.