Malta 1
Vella 80;
Finland 2
Dalla Valle 10; Riski 44;

Malta U-21s lost their game against Finland but they left the field with their heads held high.

Coming from a 4-1 home defeat to Slovenia, Ray Farrugia’s fledglings were keen to make amends but two soft goals in the first half and the sending-off of midfielder Mark Scerri early in the second looked to have wrecked their hopes of recording their first positive result on home soil after gaining four points from their opening two qualifiers.

For much of the first half, the Maltese players had struggled to get going as most of their passes went astray but they found the energy and courage to stage a spirited comeback in the final 20 minutes.

Urged on by Farrugia from the touchline, the home players displayed great commitment as they surged forward, especially after Terence Vella had revived their hopes with a late goal, but their efforts failed to produce an equaliser.

The bottom line is that Malta had left themselves with a mountain to climb after giving away to cheap goals and although Farrugia will have been heartened by his team’s reaction, he has work to do to make sure that his team avoid the costly mistakes that marred their performances in these two games.

The two teams took to the sun-drenched pitch of the Hibs Stadium wearing t-shirts commemorating FIFA’s Fair Play Day. Before kick-off, Malta captain Rowen Muscat and Tero Mantyla, his Finnish counterpart, read a declaration promising “fair play and respect”.

Farrugia’s starting formation featured three changes from the Slovenia game. Rowen Muscat was back in the fray after recovering from flu, taking the place of Clyde Borg. Steve Pisani was preferred to Hibs team-mate Tristan Caruana and goalkeeper Daniel Balzan was selected ahead of Steve Sultana.

Malta created a good chance early on when Rowen Muscat delivered a through-ball to Vella who struggled to shake off his marker before hitting a tame shot that Finland goalkeeper Saku-Pekka Sahlgren save with ease.

The game was 10 minutes old when Finland broke the deadlock. Rasmus Schuller was afforded time and space to put in a teasing cross from the left and the unmarked Lauri Dalla Valle sent the ball past Balzan.

As in Thursday’s game against Slovenia, the Maltese youngsters struggled to find their passing range. To further compound matters for Malta, Muscat was on the receiving end of a poor tackle that forced him out the match. His place taken by Caruana.

On 20 minutes, Schuller’s low free-kick was parried away by Balzan before the Maltese defenders cleared the danger.

Shouts of ‘handball’ echoed around the Hibs Stadium when Leighton Grech’s cross came off Tim Lahti’s shoulder but Irish referee Neil Doyle waved play on. Malta stirred, Bjorn Kristensen being denied by a spectacular save from Sahlgren who pushed his dipping shot over the bar.

On the stroke of half-time, Malta suffered another blow as Finland doubled their lead.

Yessous Camilleri was at fault as his short backpass left the way clear for Roope Riski who had an easy job placing his shot past Balzan.

Camilleri had the chance to redeem himself at the other end as Grech’s pass found him unchallenged in the box but the defender miscued his lob.

His team 2-0 down, Farrugia bolstered his attack with the introduction of striker Jean Paul Farrugia who came on for defender Owen Bugeja. The Malta U-21 coach also changed his tactical strategy as he switched to a three-man defence.

Ten minutes into the second half, Camilleri headed wide from Grech’s right-wing cross. Shortly afterwards, more misery befell Malta as Mark Scerri was given a straight red card for what the referee deemed as a late, dangerous tackle on Schuller.

Despite their numerical handicap, Malta tried hard to push forward with Grech providing a creative outlet on the right wing.

Finland threatened to kill the game but Riski shot wide.

With 10 minutes remaining, Malta grabbed a lifeline.

Farrugia’s perseverance paid off as the Marsaxlokk striker recovered a seemingly lost ball inside the box and laid the ball back for Vella who beat Sahlgren with a curling shot.

Malta
D. Balzan, Z. Muscat, O. Bugeja (46 J.P. Farrugia), Y. Camilleri, M. Gauci, R. Muscat (24 T. Caruana), M. Scerri, B. Kristensen, L. Grech, S. Pisani (67 M. Ciantar), T. Vella.

Finland
S. Sahlgren, M. Sumusalo, T. Mantyla, R. Schuller (62 D. Tammilehto), R. Riski (80 J. Lahde), P. Pennanen, D. Abdulahi, T. Rannankari (62 T. Heikkila), T. Lahti, L. Dalla Valle, P. Forsell.

Referee: N. Doyle (Ireland).

Yellow cards: Grech; Mantyla; Sumusalo; Riski; Gauci; Kristensen; Pennanen.

Red card: Scerri 56.

Standings