Sour and Sweet 

 “Excellent Debut for Exiles” read the banner of  sports page of The Times of the 2nd July 1981after Exiles led by Nick Keizer and Vanni Bruno earned it first and only two points of the whole campaign. It was a dream debut indeed with the team recovering from 0-3 to edge San Giljan 10-9 and the winning goal coming from John Paris.

It was definitely a year to remember for the mass influx of jellyfish which littered our seas and disrupted our training sessions which were held at the Dragonara Swimming Pool in St Julians.

The first division league was practically split in two sets of three teams which had more or less the same strength. A glance at the results revealed that Sliema Neptunes and Valletta were in a class of their own.  Exiles were definitely no match to these giants of those days. Rather than taking a cautious approach the Exiles lads ventured in open matches resulting in heavy defeats (5-19 and 3-15 against Valletta, 5-19 and 3-21 against Sliema and 4-19 and 7-16 against Neptunes). The culmination was the heaviest defeat ever against Sliema in the knock-out competition (0-20 no it’s not a mistake).
The other two teams in the competition were San Giljan and B’Bugia both of which were practically of the same level as Exiles. We lost the other three matches (7-9 and 6-9 versus B’Bugia and San Giljan in the second round 7-10) to finish at the bottom of the league table two points below the same San Giljan who had recovered by beating B’Bugia.

Francis Pace Lupi, Pierre Cauchi, Michael Paris, Patrick Busuttil, Adrian Farrugia, Peter Paris, Andrew Mallia, Karol Farrugia, Martin Gauci, John Paris, Karl Magri, Kevin Camilleri and Mario Vella Laurenti were the protagonists on the team list on that unforgettable debut. Most of these players had no experience in the top flight game. It was indeed a tough year.

The battering which the team suffered in 1981 proved beneficial in the following one 1982 when the team was relegated to the second division. The quality of play the team displayed could definitely be attributed to the experience made with the big guns in the previous year.

Paul Dowling had returned at the helm after he had given up the post of coach in 1977. In the 1982 season only four teams participated in the second division league and the ASA decided to organize the competition over three rounds.
Exiles had a good start - the campaign commenced with a fine win over Barracudas (8-5) followed by another one over Marsascala 6-2 three weeks later. The 6th August was the start of a terrible week-end when on Friday, the Under 18 team squandered a 5-2 lead against their counterparts of Neptunes. Paul had taken charge also of this squad and somehow this defeat seemed to have transmitted its negative effect on the first team with  no less than six players from the junior squad in the first team. On Saturday we lost 1-5 against Sirens followed by another defeat (2-7) versus  Barracudas the following day to be caught up by the pursuing teams. In the next set of matches the team never looked back; the matches were close encounters with the most crucial being that against Sirens (6-5) in the second round with the winner coming 11 seconds from the final whistle. Exiles built up a fresh two-point lead over the St Paul’s Bay team. Another close match against Barracudas (7-5) was determined by another goal in the dying seconds but was characterized by a ten-minute stop when one of their players was accidentally injured. No doubt this stoppage cooled down the momentum that Exiles had gathered as their lead evaporated. Prior to our match against Marsascala, Sirens surprisingly lost against Barracudas and this meant that Exiles needed one point of the remaining two matches to lift the Trophy for the third time. This we did in style as we overcame both Marsascala (9-7) and Sirens (8-5) to win the league. Paul Dowling took the opportunity of introducing several youngsters in the team. These included Stephen Paris, Anthony Bartolo, Michael Diacono and Michael Darmanin who together with John Paris and Michael Paris - both regulars in the first team- formed the backbone of the Under 18 squad. The Exiles first team could also boast of a strong set of players that performed in a very cohesive manner. Francis Pace Lupi, Martin Gauci, Adrian Farrugia, Karol Farrugia, Peter Paris, Michael Paris and John Paris were Paul Dowling’s first choice during that season. Patrick Busuttil, Andrew Mallia, Michael Testa, Karl Magri and John’Zimbi’ Attard  also contributed immensely to that memorable season.

The Knock-Out Trophy we will never forget either as in the semi-final at Valletta Pitch, Exiles were forced into extra time by a tenacious Barracudas team which paraded none other than Guzi ‘Ors’ Attard in their ranks. Andrew Mallia, Michael Paris scored two goals each whilst Karol Farrugia scored five goals to put the team in the final, four days later against Sirens. The Final was a memorable match for Adrian Farrugia who scored the winner 26 seconds before the final whistle with Exiles edging their opponents 4-3.

It was indeed a notable double, the second in the Club’s short history. I consider that year’s edition as one of the best teams Exiles had ever fielded.

It was another memorable year in which besides fielding a strong and very compact first seven, Paul Dowling never shied to introduce new faces in the squad from a very promising junior string.

In the next article we will look at another experience in the top division when in 1983, Exiles took the bold step to compete.