Joe Sciortino takes over as coach for 1995

The Club had parted from the idea of engaging a foreign coach. The choice fell on Joe Sciortino who in his playing days had kept goal of Valetta United. As an incentive to an early preparation, the Committee had decided to participate in the Winter League. There is no doubt that the players need motivation in the long winter months when training normally consists of lapping the pool up and down in building of that stamina which players find valuable in the summer league campaign. Having a competitive match at the end of a gruesome week of training proves is a hold on the members of the squad.

The Winter League attracted nine participants including Valletta and Ta’ Xbiex which were at the same level of preparation. Exiles found the going quite tough indeed; other than a respectable score against Valletta (5-9) the results against the more quoted teams were not encouraging. Joe Sciortino had insisted that the matches counted only for practice purposes where the result is of a secondary importance. The last match of the calendar was a clash against Ta Xbiex. It was a close affair indeed. Exiles managed to pip their opponents thanks to Marco Booij who was flown specially for the encounter. Marco was providential in scoring six out of the team’s final tally of seven to beat Ta Xbiex by one goal.

An Uphill Task

There was no doubt as to the favourites to win the second division league a few months later; Marsascala had enough guns to compete with a certain amount of success even at first division level. In their ranks they had signed a Sicilian player Fabio Valente - quite a menacing and versatile player who was catching the eye of other local clubs.

A Guessed Acquisition

Exiles’ foreign player proved to be an excellent signing. Dutch international Jan Codewick de Vries was a spine in the opponents’ defence. He managed to defend his attacking position in the hole with sufficient ease allowing his team-mates to advance and play the ball around before attempting to pass to him in the centre.

With the participating teams numbering five, a round-robin league consisting of three rounds was organized by the ASA. Exiles lost the first encounter to Marsascala in the opening match 9-17, followed by three straight wins against Marsaxlokk 15-10, Barracudas 11-10 and Otters 18-6 to end up two points behind the leaders.

The second encounter was the best match played by our lads throughout the season. Under Joe’s strict instructions, the team played a quasi-perfect match. Marsascala double marked Jan in the centre stopping the supply of passes to him. The few passes that reached his grip were cashed with superb goals. The Exiles team managed to keep the pace with a stronger opposition and it was only their experience that tilted the win towards Marsascala 10-12.
With a four-point advantage at the start of the second round, the league had practically been decided. The rest of the second round saw Exiles once again inflict defeats to the other three participating teams to secure a runner-up position.

In the third round, Exiles did not maintain the same tempo; after a heavy defeat (5-15) at the hands of the outright winners, a further surprise defeat against Marsaxlokk (5-7) and a draw against Barracudas (10-10) dented the season’s performance but did not deprive the team of the second placed slot.

Most of the previous year’s players formed the team for this transitory season. Antoine Sciberras, Nigel Camilleri, Mark Attard, Malcolm Jones, Michael Paris, Stephen Paris, Kurt Rossi, Ivan Muscat, Michael Camilleri, Nicky Soler, Peter Apap, Richard Ellis, Michael Pace Balzan, Valhmor Medati, Marc Tabone together with Marco Booij and Jan Codewick de Vries were utilized during the winter and summer leagues of 1995.

As we shall see in the next article, Exiles have a golden opportunity to prove themselves and they did not miss it.