Malta slumped to their second defeat in Division 2A when they lost to Switzerland 23-20 at the Hibs Stadium.

Seconds after kick-off, Malta regaled Switzerland with the first three points when they conceded a penalty and Sebastian Dimitri duly converted.

The Swiss fly-half struck again four minutes later when he scored with a drop goal a few metres out to put the visitors 6-0 up.

The Maltese looked rattled and the Swiss continued to pile the points when they retrieved possession from a scrum andThibault Gery sped through the goalline to grab the first try of the match. Dimitri made no mistake from the conversion to surge 13-0 ahead.

The home side seemed to have no answers to the Swiss power and a surging driving maul from the visitors set up Brice Monzeglio for the try – 18-0.

Malta finally struck on 24 minutes when following a protractive move Rhodri Apsee powered through for Malta’s first try. O’Brien scored the conversion to bridge the gap to 18-7.

That added more impetus to Malta’s play and an O’Brien penalty the just before half-time further reduced the gap to 18-10.

The Swiss started the second half brightly and good kicking by Dimitri set up Ghislain Montiel to grab the visitors third try and move 23-10 ahead.

But Malta fought back with skipper Dominic Busuttil powering underneath the posts for a fine try. O’Brien scored the conversion to make it 23-17.

James Morris set up a tense finale when scoring a penalty goal to put Malta just three points behind 23-20.

Malta tried to mount a late rally but the Swiss managed to hold on for the win.