A third-session recovery sparked by man-of-the-match Niki Lanzon and sustained by eight goals in a row, turned it round for Malta against an obdurate Switzerland in the last match yesterday morning.

In the end the Maltese won 14-11 after contriving a very uneasy start and a 10-6 deficit midway through the proceedings.

Again, and as was the case in all the preceding matches, Lanzon, ever-present in the water, showed his team-mates the way, not only providing assists but also topping our scorers’ list with four more goals to make it a total of 16 in all matches.

“He was definitely my man of the tournament, lifting the experimental Malta side to a deserved victory in what was a test for several young faces,” coach Karl Izzo told Times of Malta yesterday.

The Malta coach acknowledged that the opposing teams were sparring partners who offered little more than token resistance. But the upcoming Group B European Cup Qualification Round 2 starting on Thursday in Malta will be the real acid test for the national team playing under the name of Valletta.

Otherwise the past week’s friendly tournament gave an inkling to the coach that there are some promising faces knocking on the door of senior representative honours. By time they could be drafted into the side against stronger opponents in competitive matches, Izzo said.

At the end of the match ASA president Joe Caruana Curran presented the Cup to captain Lanzon, while vice-president Karl Galea presented Matthew Zammit with the prize for the Most valuable Player, voted by the coaches, and that for the tournament’s top-scorer, Steve Camilleri, who netted 29 goals.

Malta 14
Switzerland 11

(4-5, 2-5, 6-0, 2-1)

Malta: A. Borg Cole, N. Lanzon 4, A. Galea, M. Meli, K. Dowling 3, M. Zammit 2, C. Cluett 2, Z. Mizzi, B. Plumpton, A. Attard, M. Grech, D. Zammit 2, C. Mercieca 1, M. Lanzon, N. Grixti.

Switzerland: L. Henzi, J. Buob, R. Lucato 1, M. Herzog 2, O. Frohli 1, I. Djurdjevic, O. Galijas, S. Velkov 1, A. Cassina 2, P. Bjelajac, M. Leemann, L. Damjanov 4.

Referees: U. Wengenroth, R. Spiteri.

Final standings
Malta 12 points, Sette Scogli, 9, Livorno 6, Switzerland 3, Ireland 0.

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