Malta U-19 fought hard for a 6-6 draw against Great Britain.

In Day Two of the U-19 European Championship qualifiers, currently underway at Tal-Qroqq, Greece proved to be too strong for Malta with the ensuing 17-3 defeat relegating, albeit marginally, Anthony Farrugia’s team to third place in Group A1.

Needing to avoid losing by less than 13 goals to pip Great Britain to the runners-up spot, Malta were caught between the crosswinds of playing prudently to maximise their possession period and going for more positive play.

The second option was more risky given our lack of cutting edge up front.

Moreover, the morning exertion when drawing with Great Britain must have also taken its toll, not to mention the fact that the team lacked a couple of valid units who were unavailable.

With Greece piling up the goals regularly, mostly through their exceptionally strong left hander I. Masmanidis, who struck five times, it looked as if Malta would not survive the onslaught against the power and the stifling press tactics of their opponents.

After the robust Keith Galea was fouled out late in the third session and with the team trailing 15-1 with almost four minutes left, the locals abandoned caution.

There was a ray of hope when Kai Dowling twice reduced the leeway, and with the score on 16-3 the home team won possession in the last 40 seconds. We failed to capitalise on that and in the end suffered the last goal.

Earlier in the day, battling qualities and a tenacity which belied the age of some of their units, saw Malta U-19 back from three goals down in the penultimate session to share the spoils in a 6-6 draw with Great Britain.

Farrugia’s team owed their positive result to collective qualities which helped them keep their opponents away from the comfort zone with a mixture of good covering mostly evident in their press.

In this respect, the versatile Galea was outstanding with a convincing display, while Ben Plumpton, the youngest Maltese player, underlined his promise with characteristic opportunism when netting a brace.

Dowling’s two converted penalties also showed this player’s coolness at crucial moments.

After taking a 1-0 lead through Matteo Cacici, Malta conceded the initiative to Great Britain, who led 5-3 by midpoint after Nicholas Bugelli had levelled matters on 2-2.

The visitors’ 6-3 lead, with Declan Thompson and William Rayson each scoring twice going into the last eight minutes, was whittled down to one goal, with the last salvos for the Maltese coming from Plumpton with 41 seconds left and Dowling’s penalty two seconds from time.

All group matches were concluded yesterday evening.

Classification matches get underway today with Malta pitted against Slovakia, the runners-up in Group A2.

Summaries

Malta 6
Great Britain 6

(1-0, 2-5, 0-1, 3-0)

Malta: N. Grixti, M. Lanzon, A. Galea, S. Xerri De caro, K. Dowling 2, K. Mock, P. Paris, M. Mifsud, B. Plumpton 2, M. Cacici 1, K.Galea, N. Bugelli 1, S. Galea Pace.

Great Britain: D. Green, S. Sharp, A. Winstanley 1, G. Alberici, D. Thompson 2, J. Elliot, R. Padbury, A. Castle, J. Williams, J. Salt 1, W. Rayson 2, T. Hadley, J. Simcock.

Referees: H. Smit, P. Golosoun.

Greece 17
Malta 3

(4-0, 4-1, 4-0, 5-2)

Greece: E. Zervedas, N. Karakasis, I. Masmanidis 5, N. Gerakoudis, E. Prekas 3, E. Potamianos 1, P. Kalogerakos 2, A. Kapet 1, M. Chatzigoulas 3, E. Tsachilidis, N. Kopeliadis 1, N. Alvertis 1, K. Sarris.

Malta: N. Grixti, M. Lanzon, A. Galea, S. Xerri De Caro, K. Dowling 2, K. Mock, P. Paris, M. Mifsud, B. Plumpton, M. Cacici 1, K. Galea, N. Bugelli, S. Galea Pace.

Referees: J. Barradas, B. Radonjic.

Other Results
Group A2: Israel vs Ukraine 4-27; Slovakia vs Romania 11-13; Romania vs Ukraine 10-4; Slovakia vs Israel 23-7.

Standings
Group A1: Greece (2-0-0) 6; Great Britain (0-1-1) 1; Malta (0-1-1) 1.
Group A2: Romania (3-3-0) 9; Slovakia (2-0-1) 6; Ukraine (1-0-2) 3; Israel (0-0-3) 0.

Playing today
18.00 Greece vs Israel; 19.15 Great Britain vs Ukraine; 20.30 Slovakia vs Malta.