Malta 9
Slovakia 17
(1-4, 2-3, 4-5, 2-5)
The Maltese national team are still searching for their first win in the European Championships finals after going down to Slovakia in a classification match for 13th to 16th place, in Belgrade, yesterday.
As the scoreline indicates, the Slovaks were the better team and made the most of some hesitant defending by Karl Izzo’s men to open a commanding lead at the end of the first quarter.
Malta fought back admirably in the middle sessions. Inspired by the scoring prowess of Steve Camilleri, who bagged six goals, they did well to keep their opponents within striking distance.
However, Slovakia pulled further clear in the fourth period as the Maltese players began to show signs of fatigue and were unable to keep up with their opponents’ slick play.
Malta, who have played six matches in less than two weeks , complete their programme tomorrow with their last match from the classification series.
Matthew Zammit, Mark Meli and the young Ben Plumpton were the other scorers for Malta, yesterday.
The team’s lax defending left national coach Izzo distraught.
“We cannot be happy with the final scoreline. I felt that the team didn’t defend as well as we were capable of doing,” he told Times of Malta.
“Our cover play in the centre and in man-up sets was very poor and that resulted in us conceding some soft goals.”
On a more positive note, Izzo said his team had managed to score their highest number of goals in a single match at the tournament against quality opposition.
“Nine goals against a Slovakia side that boasts 10 players in strong European leagues is an encouraging factor,” he said.
“Steve Camilleri again showed his class with a fine performance and Matthew Zammit was instrumental in procuring man-ups and penalties in our favour.”
The national team have one last chance to avoid defeat and bottom place in the championships to-morrow as they clash against the losers of the play-off between Turkey and Georgia.
“This will be our last match here and we want to finish on a good note,” Izzo said.
“In all probability it will be Turkey but we’ll have to wait and see. We’ll continue to learn from this experience and do all we can to end our commitments here with a better showing.”
On Tuesday, Hungary booked their place in the semi-finals of the tournament after an 8-5 win over Croatia while Montenegro upset six-time European champions Italy with a 10-7 victory at the Kombank Arena.
The Italians had won all their group games but Montenegro, European champions in 2008, proved too strong on the day.
Malta: A. Borg Cole, N. Lanzon, J. Gabaretta, N. Bugelli, M. Meli 1, M. Zammit 1, S. Camilleri 6; J. Camilleri, J. Brownrigg, A. Cousin, B. Plumpton 1, D. Zammit, N. Grixti.
Results
13-16: Malta vs Slovakia 9-17.
9-12: Romania vs Germany 10-10 (Romania win 4-3 on penalties).
5-8: Spain vs Russia 10-9.
Semi-final: Greece vs Serbia 7-13.
Playing today
13-16 place: Turkey vs Georgia.
9-12: France vs Netherlands.
5-8: Italy vs Croatia.
Semi-final: Montenegro vs Hungary.