Malta 25

Sweden 23

A last-gasp penalty conversion by James O'Brien handed Malta a victory over Sweden in a thrilling encounter played in front of a packed crowd at the Hibs Ground this afternoon.

Damien Neill's men had looked well on their way to a crucial victory when man-of-the-match O'Brien scored two tries to put Malta 22-18 ahead with only 10 minutes ahead. However, the Swedes launched a stirring fightback and English-born Andrew Daish looked to have broken Malta's hopes when he put the Swedes one point ahead with only one minute to play.

However, backed by a vociferous and colourful crowd, the Maltese again showed their tenacious qualities as they kept pushing forward and their efforts were finally rewarded with O'Brien's penalty conversion that handed Malta their first home victory in this season's Division 2B and more importantly secured the team's place in the division for another two seasons.

O'Brien, who plays his club rugby with Waterloo, in the UK, was the game's top scorer with 15 points while Lee Culnane and Paul Marzella scored Malta's other tries yesterday.

Malta: I. Borda, H. Collins, P. Bradley, L. Watts, D. Psaila, M. Bonavia, J. Howlands, R. Bonavia, M. Mirabelli, R. Spiteri, L. Culnane 5, D. Busuttil, P. Marzella 5, J. O'Brien 15. Subs used: T. Pace Moore, J. Finlason.

Sweden: M. Macdonald, J.O. Johansson, M. Thorhard, I. Bengtsson, v. Pettersson, A. Letele, A. Daish 5, S. Taylor, L. Sandberg, T. Ardvisson 5, S. Tegunimataka, P. Mathews 5, A. Taylor, J. Borg, T. Johansson 8. Subs used: F. Cassalhag, P. Sullivan, P. Wiklund, R. Ormberg. Referee: Peter Hoffman (Portugal).

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