Malta 9
Denmark 8
(2-2, 2-2, 3-1, 2-3)
The Maltese national team are the winners of the EU 8 Nations tournament as yesterday they edged past Denmark 9-8 in a thrilling final in Ireland.
This was an outstanding all-round showing from Karl Izzo’s men who completed a perfect week in Limerick as they looked to step up preparations for next month’s Commonwealth Championships in Aberdeen.
The Maltese had already beaten the Danes 18-9 in the group stage but the title match turned out to be closer with victory going to Izzo’s team after staving off a bold comeback bid by the Nordic players who trailed 9-5 in the last session.
The success takes more significance when one considers that the national team had to do without the services of chief goal-scorer Steve Camilleri who did not make the trip to Ireland because of injury.
Skipper Niki Lanzon, the tournament top scorer, was again an inspirational figure yesterday as he netted a poker while Jerome Gabarretta and Michele Stellini grabbed a double each with the other goal coming from Matthew Zammit.
Zammit was voted Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
Ireland won the play-off for third place after beating Austria 13-6 yesterday.
Malta: D. Camilleri, J. Gabarretta, N. Lanzon, M. Stellini, M. Meli, M. Zammit, P. Fava, J. Camilleri, J. Brownrigg, T. Sullivan, C. Mercieca, D. Zammit, A. Borg Cole.