Second-half effort not enough

What should have been a good match between two keen and athletic squads was somewhat marred by some inexperienced refereeing by P.O. Pizii, the first ever female referee to officiate in Malta.

Unfortunately, some of her debatable decisions favoured the visitors who dominated the line-outs which gave them a huge advantage.

The first try came after Pizii failed to record a blatant Navy infringement, but the ball was moved well along the Navy backs to the big wing Dauninivi, who scored in the corner.

A second try also came from crisp passing to winger Phillips. The move, unfortunately, included a forward pass which was ignored.

The next two tries were not controversial though. Field burrowed over after excellent mauling by the Navy pack, centre Mills breaking cleanly. Roberts missed all conversions as the Navy took a cushion lead at half-time (20-0).

Malta started the second half in determined mood. However, one promising move was broken up by the whole Navy back line being unpenalised for offside.

Nevertheless, a Fountain kick saw Malcolm Attard in under the posts, converted by Spiteri.

This inspired a great response by the Navy pack who put the Maltese line under severe pressure until Dauninivi scored wide. Little Dean Mifsud deserves credit for the way in which he stood up to and tackled the burly Dauninivi throughout the match.

Another good show came from Rowan Spiteri. He showed a touch of class, although he suffered a blatantly late tackle which went unpunished. Tackling was pretty determined.

Spiteri, who plays in the Australian League, is one of the 13 foreign-based Malta players for next Saturday's international match against Serbia, kicking off at noon.

Navy then added another try but Malta fought back and the last word was with Chris Vassallo. He forced his way over after a determined series of runs close to the Navy line.

The locals won the second half 12-10 but this was not enough (FT: 30-12). The Navy deserved to win but a 15-12 score would have been a far better reflection of the actual performances of the teams.