First win after defeats to Poland, Gibraltar
Malta obtained their first point in the EHF EuroHockey Championship Division Three as they held Lithuania 2-2.
It was a match in which the Maltese played very well although it was only in the fourth quarter that they managed to restore parity after a late rally.
Despite being 2-0, the Maltese didn’t throw away the towel and managed to obtain a very important point.
The first three quarters were very positive for Lithuania who scored twice through Rafal Stankevic and Matvidas Pocevicius.
In the fourth quarter, coach Chris Attard wanted his players to put in some effort and they were rewarded with two quickfire goals that stunned their opponents. As Thomas Degiovanni reduced the score, Zack Degiovanni scored the dramatic goal that gave the Maltese points their first point of the tournament.
In other matches played at Skiernewice, Poland and Gibraltar maintained their good form of late as they saw off Croatia (6-1) and Serbia (5-0).
Tough start to campaign
This point against Lithuania which puts them level on points in the standings comes after two defeats against top sides Gibraltar and Poland. Malta started their commitments with a close defeat against a plucky Gibraltar side 3-2.
Gibraltar started brightly as they established a 3-0 advantage courtesy of Craig Bossano Anes, Julian Lopez, and Ethan Balban. In the last part of the match, the Maltese boys reacted and scored twice through Zak Degiovanni and Silas Plaehn but it was too late in the day.
The next day, they fell to a tougher 6-0 loss against Poland. Despite the loss, the Maltese boys defended boldly against a team who were coming from a great 23-0 win against Serbia. It was only in the fourth quarter that the Maltese gave away three more goals that put the match for the Poles.
STANDINGS – POOL A
Poland, Gibraltar 9, Croatia 6, Lithuania, Malta 1, Serbia 0
