The South, bolstered with the inclusion of Gozitan-Australian Peter Curmi and Michael Cremona (pictured left), held out a late Northern rally for a 56-52 score line at St Martin’s College today.

The game was littered with dropped ball and ill-discipline but the South recovered first to steady their ship and run away with a commanding lead before the North almost stole a draw in the final seconds.

Sergio Pisani, for the North, showed flashes of fantastic hands, holding onto some wayward and magic balls including one that saw the winger complete the moment with a try of his own.

A collision of Malta internationals energised both squads when Calvin Briffa (Malta Rugby League International) was right on the mark to take Peter Bradley (Malta Rugby Union International) metres from the try line.

The second half saw Bradley return serve on a falling Andrew Zammit-Manduca that saw the latter receive attention before resuming play.

Michael Cremona was lucky not to be sent from the field after a brace of high tackles, one in each half.

Curmi was a shining light for the South and the guest player from Australian shores registered three tries while John Micallef-Moreno and Manikata’s Mark Seychell had solid games.

The North set themselves for a final assault with the final set of play however a South restart found touch from the kickoff and the South held on to move two points clear in the race for the 2009-2010 Malta Rugby League Championship.

Daniel Grima (North) hopes to be back in action for round four and at the other end the South were missing Daryl Psaila and Dario Schembri through injury in addition to Roderick Attard who left Malta mid-week to join the Gateshead Thunder in England.

South 56 (P.Bradley 4, P.Curmi 3, M.Spagnol 3, M.Cremona 2, A.Attard, A.Zammit-Manduca tries) def.
North 52 (M.Seychell 4, J.Micallef-Moreni 2, S.Pisani 3, C.Sammut 3, P.Curmi tries)
At St Martin’s College, Swatar
Referee: A.Micallef
H-T: Sth 28-16
F-T: Sth 56-52

For MRL Championship Standings and Top Tryscorers, click here.

Pictures courtesy of Matthew Scerri are available by clicking here.