Hats off to the Malta lads who made waterpolo history yesterday when they qualified for the first time ever for a major European competition final on their own merits.
Their 7-6 win over Great Britain, opponents who can vaunt of immeasurably better resources and funding and recent notable progress in their game, was the acme of their qualifying matches so far as they booked a place in the last 16 of the inaugural edition of the European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan, in June.
Never has there been a Maltese youth team of such talent who base their game on the modern requisites of waterpolo.
Fine physical condition, good teamwork and unwavering team spirit was their recipe for success.
From the rising star, Ben Plumpton to the babe of the squad Jacob Sciberras, the fare put up by the boys was of high quality, with the coaching tandem of Karl Izzo and Anthony Farrugia directing operations from the bench and making wise use of substitutions.
It would be invidious to single out individuals in the team but no one would begrudge special mention of the remarkable Plumpton and the inspiring goalkeeping of Jake Tanti.
The first one was the scoring lubricant and the second stopped almost everything the British players could throw at him.
Tactically the match was on an even keel with the hosts taking an early 3-1 lead after Malta had squandered two penalty throws and then the local boys twice moving ahead on a two-goal margin to set up a really tense final session.
Malta’s advantage was mainly brought about by four-goal Plumpton who was otherwise perilously hanging on two exclusions in the dying seconds of the third quarter.
But in the end, the Maltese prevailed courtesy of their fitness which also resulted from their strong leg-work and faultless covering when not in possession.
Great Britain 6
Malta 7
(3-2, 1-3, 1-2, 1-0)
Britain: O. Llewellyn, S. Alberici, C. Briers, B. Tinkler Davis, B. Greenhill, H. Hudson 1, B. Riding 1, A. Castle 3, S. Wilson 1, S. Wilks, K. Powell, J. Warman, J. Baker.
Malta: J. Tanti, D. Fenech, M. Manara, J. Sciberras 1, J. Abela, B. Plumpton 4, J. Galea, J. Gambin, M. Azzopardi, D. Zammit 2, K. Navarro, L. Calleja, F. Buhagiar.
Refs: I. Mares, L. Van Der.
Other result: Germany vs Switzerland 28-2.