1994 - A season Exiles we will never forget

The photo of the young squad of 1994 remained in my study at home until the year 2000 when Exiles under the guidance of Dirk Dowling won the second Division title after a dearth of eleven years. There was a reason for this. It was my last year as President; I had told Andrew Paris, Club Secretary at the time that I would not be seeking re-election the following year.

The Committee had decided to part with some players and base on the remaining experienced ones like Antoine Sciberras, Stephen and Michael Paris, Karl Borg, Peter Apap, Nicky Soler, Nigel Camilleri (the second goalkeeper) and Simon Camilleri   who formed the nucleus. New names emerged from the youth string; Andrew Ransley, Richard Ellis, Michael Camilleri, Mark Attard, and Kurt Rossi were roped in to complement the established players.

As a foreign player, the Club registered Marco Booij a strong Dutchman who eventually proved his talent when he made several appearances playing for his national team. He was young, and strong; he was of inspiration to the new Exiles side. As coach, the Committee chose Isaac Hoffman from ZPB Profus, a Dutch club with whom there is a sort of twinning which exists till this very day. Isaac had instilled the discipline in the team with the players looking up to him as he introduced new systems relating to methods of playing like the rotation in the attack. With no heavyweight in the team, Isaac introduced a method relying on speed, stamina and accuracy.

The aim of the Committee was to use that particular season as one of transition, to introduce more of the promising youngsters being nurtured by the Club. At the outset there was never any form of aspiration. With that mentality, the pressure to win at all costs did not cross the players’ minds and this was very evident in the first part of the league when Exile dominated their opponents in a very relaxed manner. I remember distinctly one particular match, the first one, when Exiles ran away with their opponents to take an unassailable lead before Isaac decided to change most of the first seven to see the advantage whittle to a close-shave win.

Whilst Exiles marched relentlessly, the pack behind kept losing precious points against each other creating a six-point gap behind the current leaders with three matches left to play. Unbelievable but true, Exiles only required one point from the remaining three fixtures yet they managed to squander that lead. It was a dismal performance against Marsaxlokk (the second defeat out of the three direct encounters with the Southsiders). Marsaxlokk were far from de-motivated as they fought hard playing their hearts out to beat us. The two other teams in contention Ta’Xbiex and Barracudas were “united” in their aim to catch up and they cheered in no uncertain conduct against Exiles.

I could feel that in the Exiles’ team had crept a sense of fear of winning. Its one thing playing relaxed and winning and another playing as if you have lead tied to your feet. I think that Exiles had to wrap up the championship in their match against Marsaxlokk who had no say in the title race. The subsequent two defeats with Ta’Xbiex and Barracudas were hard pills to swallow. The clash against Ta’Xbiex saw our lads leading practically throughout the match. With forty five seconds away from the final whistle, Ta‘Xbiex  took the lead for the first time but Exiles equalized immediately through Mark Attard as he found the back of the net to steer the ship home and dry. It was not to be, as Referee Alfred Cachia (the previous year’s coach) expelled Kurt Rossi in what from the stands seemed to be a minor foul. It was an awkward sensation indeed; when the ball left the hands of the Ta’Xbiex player, the final horn had sounded and whilst in flight, Exiles were in theory champions. Trust our bad luck to find the ball landing behind Antoine Sciberras to end the afternoon on a bitter note indeed. Quick thinking by the Exiles’ defender Mark Attard could have saved the day. It is easy to criticize. Exiles lost 8-9 to fight it out another day.

Against Barracudas it was deja-vu of the previous outing.  After trailing for most of the match, Exiles retaliated to level with their opponents. They did not capitalize on the permanent exclusion of the foreign player of Barracudas midway through the second session. The match was also decided in the last 45 seconds of the match when Barracudas scored the winner with a lob.  

The three successive defeats by Exiles created a situation whereby three teams finished on equal points. A single round league was organized with Exiles meeting Ta’Xbiex on the second day after the latter beat Barracudas (5-4) in the opening match. Isaac Hoffman had in the meantime left Malta as pre-arranged earlier in the season; to return at the end of the league.
 
Andrew Paris and myself (Karol Farrugia), took over the team for the deciders and were on the pool deck to lead the team.  Exiles were trailing (1-4) in a wasteful afternoon before reacting to square up (4-4). In a dramatic finale, Exiles survived a final onslaught by Ta 'Xbiex. We took possession of the ball 30 seconds to go with the score reading (5-5). Instead of playing the clock and taking the a shot in the last seconds, Exiles frittered the attack by relinquishing the possession of the ball giving Ta’Xbiex a final chance to attack which they did and had the last laugh. An expulsion of Marco followed by a penalty for his interfering with play when the match was over gave the victory and championship to our opponents. Against Barracudas, Exiles finally broke the negative series of four consecutive defeats to win (9-6) for a platonic second place.

The season had more surprises in the knock-out competition when Exiles were drawn against the newly-crowned champions. It was a one-sided affair as Exiles swept past the feeble opposition 10-1 in a match that raised a few eyebrows at the National Swimming Pool. The final against Barracudas was the trough of a roller-coaster season. The final score (9-11) did not reflect the awful start of the match when Barracudas wrapped the game with a seven-goal cushion before Exiles closed the gap to make the result more respectable. Exiles ended the season empty-handed. 

The season had its aftermath with more drama out of the water.  But that’s history now and the less said…. the better.

In the next article Exiles meet a tough Marsascala outfit in preparation to their future success three years later.