Two Maltese national selections were engaged in a double friendly fixture against the visiting Great Britain U-20 team at Tal-Qroqq, on Sunday and Monday.
The visitors started their tour on the right footing after beating the Maltese national team 19-17.
However, the local Under-23 side gave a better account of themselves in the second match.
Guided by coaches Ian Psaila and Silvio Borg, the U-23s surged into a 14-7 half-time lead.
On the restart, the Great Britain boys tried hard to fight their way back into the match but the locals refused to give in, going on to secure a surprising 23-17 victory.
Maurice Meli and Peter Naudi were the top scorers with five goals each. Josh Da Silva, Liam Welsby and David Klaening scored four goals each for Great Britain.
Malta goalkeeper Daniel Tanti was voted man of the match after producing a fine performance.