Malta Marauders rugby team reached the final of the Prague International Veterans tournament for the second year running, but missed out on the trophy yet again.

Marauders were drawn in Pool A of the eight-team tournament, and were first on against the French team Gros Moignons. This proved to be the hardest game of the pool as the Marauders won by a single try from Alan Billington.

The second game saw Marauders face Moldova, and tries from Steve Perry, Graeme Petchey and Andy Longley gave them a well-deserved victory. The final pool game pitched Marauders against Czech side Moravkoletski Orli, and a brilliant try from Longley secured the win.

At the end of the preliminary stage, Marauders had topped their pool, without conceding a try. This earned them a place in the final against hot favourites Hamilton Dynamiters, an international touring team from South Africa.

With a squad of only 15 players against a Dynamiters squad of double that size, Marauders knew they were up against it, and so it proved.

The battling Marauders could not pierce the superb Hamilton defence, and with their fast-paced back line on fire and a fresh bench of replacements to bring on, the South African team took the honours with a 25-0 win.

So Marauders came away with the runners-up trophy for the second year.

Club president Phil Gibbs praised the overall performance of the team, which contained three players over 60.

“We are planning to return to the tournament next year and hopefully we can make it third time lucky,” Gibbs said.

STM Malta were the main sponsors of the Malta Marauders.