The Malta U-19 national team put on another spirited performance but was still not enough to avoid defeat against Turkey at the European Championships being played in Burgas, Bulgaria.
Milan Cirovic’s boys were in the game for much of the opening three sessions but the exclusion of Jayden Cutajar late in the third session proved costly as the Turks went on to secure victory.
The Maltese youngsters enjoyed a bright start as they managed to edge a tight opening session with goals from Alec Fenech, Dean Bugeja and Kieyan Borg handing them a 3-2 lead.
There was little separating either side in the second session as the Turks held the upperhand to head into the half-time interval locked at four-all. Jayden Cutajar scored Malta’s only goal of the session.
Malta and Turkey kept trading blows in the third session, sharing six goals, for a 7-7 scoreline.
Then Cutajar clashed with Ali Nuray and both players were excluded with substitution.
Here, Turkey scored two priceless goals from Efe Naipoglu that handed them a 9-7 lead with one session to go.
That two-goal cushion proved crucial for the Turks who managed to fend off Malta’s fightback in the last quarter.
Kieyan Borg and Alec Fenech tried to put the Maltese back in the match but Turkey held on to crucial victory that put them into the next round.
Malta will round up their commitments when they face France on Tuesday at 9am.
