England 16
Malta 9
(5-1, 5-2, 4-3, 2-3)
England again proved too strong for Malta, winning yesterday’s final of the Commonwealth Champion-ships 16-9 in Aberdeen.
While the English vindicated their billing as title favourites, Malta had good reason to be pleased with their overall performance after capturing the silver medal.
Having lost 10-3 to England in their final match of the round-robin phase on Friday, Malta were well aware that they had to lift their game significantly to stand a chance of causing an upset but their hopes were dashed in the opening session.
A series of dubious decisions by the officials left the Maltese players and coach Karl Izzo fuming as England converted five man-up situations to establish a commanding 5-1 lead.
Malta fared slightly better in the second, losing 5-2 but they really had a go at their opponents in the remaining two. They scored six times as England won the third quarter 4-3 with Malta prevailing 3-2 in the last session.
Jordan Camilleri netted three times for Malta yesterday while Mark Meli and Michele Stellini struck a brace.
Matthew Zammit and Niki Lanzon got the other goals for Malta whose runners-up spot in Scotland extended their positive run after their success in last month’s EU 8 Nations Tournament.
The defeats to England failed to dampen the spirits of coach Izzo who heaped praise on his players after their tremendous effort over the past nine days produced five consecutive wins in the round-robin phase.
“I’m happy with the silver medal,” Izzo told The Sunday Times of Malta. “We played better than the day before but England took their chances well.
“The most important thing is that the boys gave their 100 per cent.
“In these type of games, we sorely felt the absence of an important player like Steve Camilleri.
“England came with their best squad. They are a strong team but I’m satisfied and proud of my boys. They have been fantastic, winning five of seven games in an eight-day period.”
Before the squad left for Scotland last week, Izzo declared that his target was a podium finish. He admitted that Malta’s silver medal feat exceeded his expectations.
“Actually, we went one better than I had predicted,” Izzo said.
“New Zealand have a very good team but we overwhelmed them in the first session (Malta won the game 17-9). South Africa are also a valid team. All in all, it was a very balanced tournament.
“In the final, we were penalised by a series of poor decisions from the referee, especially in the opening session.”
Scotland took the bronze medal after beating South Africa 6-5 in yesterday’s third-place play-off.
England completed a double after edging Canada 10-9 to win the gold medal in the women’s competition.