To face Germany in ninth-place match
Malta assured themselves of a top-10 finish at this year’s LEN Under-15 European Championships in Podgorica, Montenegro when they beat Romania 11-9 in their latest fixture.
Malta had fallen to the Netherlands in their fight for a place in the Round of 16. However, after beating Poland for a Top-12 spot, Romania – who fell to Turkey in the Last 16 – were Malta’s next challenge.
Andre Aquilina opened the scoring, and it was the same player who equalized in the last 20 seconds of the session after a penalty from Marc-Nicolas Angelescu and another goal from Denis Feke.
Romania took the lead through Feke immediately in the second quarter and they held it to finish 6-5 at the halftime break.
In a low-scoring third quarter, Malta’s Shailon Cutajar Casha and Max Lanzon brought the side back on top with Andrei-Robert Cimpoeru levelled.
The final session was crucial however, as both sides responded to eachother’s attempts, climbing up to 9-9 with 2.40 to go. But a penalty from Jamie Borg Tabone and another strike from Cutajar Casha opened a two-goal cushion with just seconds to go as Malta secured the win.
They now face Germany for a historic ninth place after the latter beat the Netherlands 4-3 in the previous round.
