Wales romp to 3-1 win

Wales 3
Malta 1

The Malta U-21 first outing of the 2005-06 season turned out to be a negative one after they were beaten by Wales 3-1 in a friendly at Stebonheath Park yesterday.

Malta coach Mark Miller was hoping to take some positive answers ahead of next month's qualifiers against Hungary and Croatia. But the Maltese players found the going tough against a depleted Welsh team that included several U-19 players.

Wales made a strong start and after only 12 minutes they broke the stalemate. They were awarded a corner from the right and Andrew Crofts, who plays for Gillingham, headed the ball past Kristian Calleja.

The Maltese slowly regrouped themselves and started to share the exchanges with their opponents. Their best chance fell to Andre Schembri but he failed to hit the target.

Wales kept the initiative when ends were changed and on 52 minutes they doubled their advantage. Swansea forward Mark Pritchard was put through and cooly lobbed the ball over the advancing Bernard Paris, who had just come on for Calleja in the Malta goal.

The hosts continued to dominate and on 74 minutes they sealed their victory when Aaron Davies, of Yeovil Town, again beat the offside trap to score Wales' third goal.

During the second half, Miller effected a number of changes to the team as he kept with his word of giving fringe players a chance to impress. Roderick Bajada, one of the substitutes roped in by the Malta coach, left a positive mark as he managed to score a consolation goal nine minutes from time.

Malta: K. Calleja (B. Paris), A. Muscat, R. Mintoff (T. Cilia), J. Mifsud, C. Failla, A. Agius, G. Sciberras, C. Frendo (I. Zammit), S. Bajada (R. Bajada), A. Schembri (N. Baldacchino), C. Cassar (P. Fenech).

Scorers: Crofts 12; Pritchard 52; Davies 74 (Wales), R. Bajada 81 (Malta)