Crucial for Malta against Lithuania
Victory would edge Neill’s team closer to safety
Buoyed by last weekend’s crushing victory over Latvia, the Malta national team will be looking to all but put to rest their relegation worries with victory over Lithuania at the Hibs Sta-dium today (kick-off: 2 p.m.).
Damien Neill’s men are cur-rently third in Division 2A with eight points from four matches... four ahead of Latvia and Croatia who face each other in a bottom-of-the-table clash in Split today.
Victory against the second-placed Lithuanians would all but assure Malta of retaining their status in the division for another qualifying campaign.
The task facing the Maltese is anything but easy, however.
Lithuania are one of the strongest teams in the division and the majority of their squad are professional players in the Russian league.
Last month, they opened their European commitments for the season by holding leaders Sweden to a 30-all draw in Kaunas after trailing 23-13 at the interval.
Lithuania beat Malta 9-6 last year but Neill is not giving too much importance to that result.
“You cannot look too much into that match. Since then both teams have moved forward,” the Welsh-man said.
“If you look at our team, we have come a long way since our first match in this qualifying campaign. Our level has improved signi-ficantly and against Latvia last week we showed that when we apply ourselves to the maximum of our ability we can do really well against all teams in this group.
“Lithuania will be a different challenge to the one posed by Latvia. Their game has evolved and they do not just base their play on power but they’re also comfor-table with quick-passing rugby so we must be on alert.”
Charlie Sammut is out with a fractured cheekbone but Neill is hopeful that the warmth of the local fans will again prove decisive as Malta look to complete this double-header with another victory.
“Sammut will be missed but playing at home is a huge advan-tage as the atmosphere at the Hibs Stadium always gives our players a lift,” he said.
Playing today: 2 p.m. Malta vs Lithuania; Croatia vs Latvia.
Standings: Sweden (5-1-0) 22; Lithuania (3-1-1) 14; Malta (2-0-3) 8; Latvia (1-0-4) 4; Croatia (1-0-4) 4.
Remaining matches: April 21 – Malta vs Sweden. April 28 – Latvia vs Lithuania; Croatia vs Malta. May 5 – Sweden vs Latvia; Lithuania vs Croatia.
Previous encounters
21-04-2001 Malta vs Lithuania 11-39; 23-11-2012 Malta vs Lithuania 22-18; 30-10-2010 Lithuania vs Malta 9-6.