Malta score two penalties to beat the Netherlands 2-1

Malta U-17 chalked up their first win in Group Eight of the UEFA U-17 championship yesterday to stay in contention for a place in the next round of the competition after beating the Netherlands 2-1 in Andorra.

The goals for Charles Scerri's team came from penalties, scored by Sacha Borg, on 47 minutes, and Dylan D'Agostino with 20 minutes to go. Juergen Locadia reduced the deficit for the Dutch team but the Maltese boys held tight in the last few minutes for a morale-boosting win.

Malta U-17 lost their first match to group leaders Northern Ireland, 2-0 on Thursday, but yesterday the team hit back admirably to join the Netherlands in second place on three points with one match to go.

Northern Ireland lead the group with six points after beating hosts Andorra 2-0 at the Estadi Comunal yesterday.

The remaining matches from Group Eight will be played on Tuesday. Northern Ireland face the Netherlands and Malta take on bottom-placed Andorra.

The qualifying round of the U-17 Championship is made up of 13 groups of four teams playing in one-venue mini-tournaments.

The top two from each group progress to the Elite Round along with the two third-placed teams with the best record against the top pair in their same section.