Sliema Stompers player-coach Malcolm Attard has steered his team to a 34-point victory on the back of a personal haul of three tries and eight conversions at the Balzan FC Ground this evening.

In a match that threatened to spill into an aggression-fueled encounter, two players were sin binned throughout a convincing Sliema victory.

Attard's boot was admittedly off-par, still kicking 8 from 9, but the 28-year-old Malta international toyed with the opposition defence all night long.

Sliema led 24-12 at half time and extended their lead through the Attard hat-trick and a double to Jeremy Grech, one thanks to an exciting sprint down the right flank.

Malta Origin tried to claw their way back into the match but were not helped by some questionable refereeing decisions and two kick-restarts by Sam Keep that failed to go the 10 metres.  

Sliema on the other hand, showed why they are the team to beat, proving themselves as the most rounded rugby team in this season's MRL Dove Men+Care Championship.

Sliema's Matthew Camilleri was sin-binned for an incident that was placed on report in the 50th minute and Malta Origin's Lewis Naphausen received the same fate for allegedly treading on Sliema's Malcolm Attard. The MRL Match Review Panel will review both incidents.

The other match day three fixture between Kavallieri RL and Gozo RL was postponed to Wednesday 13 June. 

Stompers 56 (M.Attard 3, J.Grech 2, M.Camilleri, L.Debattista, G.Zammit, J.Ellul, D.Cerketa tries; M.attard 8 from 9, J.Grech 0 from 1 goals) defeated
Malta Origin 22 (S.Keep 2, L.Naphausen, P.Holland tries; D.Frendo 3 from 4 goals)
H-T: Sliema Stompers 24-12
Best & Fairest: Malcolm Attard (Sliema Stompers) and Sam Keep (Malta Origin)
Ref: Mr A.Micallef
At Balzan FC Ground

2012 MRL Dove Men+Care Championship Standings:
Sliema Stompers 6pts (+74)
Malta Origin 4pts (-6)
Kavallieri RL 0pts* (-32)
Gozo RL 0pts* (-36)
* Kavallieri RL and Gozo RL have one match in hand.

Top Tryscorers:
8: M.Camilleri (Sliema Stompers)
6: L.Naphausen (Malta Origin)
5: J.Criminale (Malta Origin) and R.Meintjes (Sliema Stompers)
4: D.Frendo (Malta Origin/Kavallieri RL)

Top Point Scorers:
56: D.Frendo (Malta Origin) = 4 tries, 20 goals
50: Malcolm Attard (Sliema Stompers) = 4 tries, 17 goals
32: M.Camilleri (Sliema Stompers) = 8 tries
28: R.Meintjes (Sliema Stompers) = 5 tries, 4 goals

Remaining Matchday 3 Fixtures: Kavallieri RL v Gozo RL to be played on Wednesday 13th June 2012.

Photos: Daniela Cauchi (top right) and Matthew Scerri (bottom right)

Interactive: Photos by Daniela Cauchi and Matthew Scerri can be found online at www.facebook.com/MALTARL

2012-05-31, 00:46