Having reached their goal of qualifying for their first ever finals in a major international competition, Malta U-17 were forced to surrender to Germany in their last Group ‘D’ match which resulted in an easy 22-6 win for the visiting team.

One could anticipate the superiority of the Germans who went about their business of dismissing the Maltese while stretching their advantage to 16 goals.

Malta may have been excused to regard this match as an anti-climax following their fruitful victory over Britain the day before. But more than that, the visitors’ undoubted physical and technical edge, was a telling factor.

The Maltese could have been subconsciously bent on limiting the margin of defeat, knowing that their opponents had a clear edge.

Moreover, the irrepressible Denis Streletzkij, the tournament’s top scorer with 41 goals (13 more than second-placed Ben Plumpton), was a constant menace to the host team. Yesterday he scored 11 goals.

Malta could only keep up with the Germans until midway in the second quarter. To make matters worse, kingpin Plumpton, effectively marked out when he ventured into the centre, was excluded in the middle of the third session after three personal faults.

It is to Malta’s credit, however, that the players never resorted to negative time-wasting tactics and this was clearly evident when they only conceded the final session 7-4, with hat-trick hitter Jeremy Abela adding two goals to the one he scored in the opening session.

Nevertheless, the issue had long been settled, with the Maltese sensing that their main task of earning a berth in the Euro Games had been accomplished the day before.

Summary

Malta 6
Germany 22

(1-2, 1-7, 0-6, 4-7)

Malta: J. Tanti, D. Fenech, M. Manara, J. Sciberras, J. Abela 3, B. Plumpton 1, J. Galea 1, J. Gambin, M. Azzopardi, D. Zammit, K. Navarro 1, L. Calleja, F. Buhagiar.

Germany: D. Hilgendorf, R. Nawrat 2, K. Sopidis, P. Dolff 1, F. Schutze 4, D. Streletzkij 11, E. Manolakis 1, T. Popp, A. Bayer 1, F. Zugic 2, D. Reimer, V. Winkler, B. Flammersberger.

Referees: I. Mares (Czech Rep.), S. Meinicov (Moldova).

Other result

Switzerland 40
Latvia 1

(9-0, 6-1, 12-0, 13-0)