Malta conceded its first defeat in the UEFA Boys Youth Under-16 Development Mini-Tournament after going down 2-0 to Andorra at the Centenary Stadium.

A 1-0 victory over Armenia in their opening game had raised optimism of another positive outcome for Silvio Vella’s boys in their second outing but they struggled to show their best football.

After falling behind late in the first half, the Maltese youngsters tried to make a reaction but their hopes of saving the game were dashed as they suffered a late goal.

Adrian Dacunha opened the scoring for Andorra late in the first half. Jose Almeida, who came on as a substitute, secured their second win in as many games when making it 2-0 nine minutes from time.

Andorra are now favourites to win this tournament as they have a maximum six points from two games while Malta and Armenia, who beat Gibraltar 1-0 in today’s opening game, have three points.

Kick-off change

Malta will be looking to end their commitments on a high when they meet Gibraltar in their final game tomorrow at the Centenary Stadium at 10.45am.

The other match, between Andorra and Armenia, will be played at the Luxol Stadium at 10.15am.

This game was originally scheduled to commence at the same time as the Malta-Gibraltar match but kick-off was brought forward to 10.15am following a request submitted by the Armenian Football Association.