Malta 9
South Africa 8

(3-4, 2-1, 2-1, 2-2)

Malta assured themselves of a place in Saturday’s gold medal match after battling past South Africa 9-8 in a hard-fought encounter at the Commonwealth Championships in Aber-deen, yesterday.

The Maltese team were streets ahead of their opponents so far but against South Africa Karl Izzo’s men were given a tough work-out before edging to a fourth successive victory.

Malta remain on top of the standings with eight points, two ahead of England, who have a game in hand. The national team have now opened an unassailable five-point lead over third-placed South Africa to make sure of occupying one of the top two slots at the end of the round robin phase.

South Africa surged into a 4-2 lead before Michele Stellini pushed Malta one goal adrift at the end of the opening session.

Goalkeeper Alan Borg Cole distinguished himself with some fine blocks in the second session as two goals from Matthew Zammit saw both teams level on 5-5 at half-time.

The match continued to be tense with Izzo ejected from the deck for protests. Still his men edged the session 2-1 to go 7-6 up before the final quarter.

Goals from Jordan Camilleri and Stellini put Malta 9-7 in front. South Africa pulled one back with Borg Cole effecting a couple of fine saves late on to make sure Malta stay on a perfect record.

“South Africa are a strong side and definitely this was our toughest test so far,” Izzo said.

“My players showed great resilience to come back each time we were behind. This was a great match... I’m honoured to be the coach of this team.”

Malta play Wales this afternoon. Yesterday, the Welshmen were beaten 11-3 by England.

Malta scorers: M. Stellini 4; M. Zammit 3; M. Meli, J. Camilleri.