Malta U-19’s stirring fightback not enough to overcome France in play-off

FRANCE 9

MALTA 8

(3-1, 5-2, 1-2, 0-3)

The Malta U-19 waterpolo national team produced a stirring fightback was still not enough to overcome France in the positional play-off at the European Championships in Burgas on Thursday.

Milan Cirovic’s boys were looking for revenge against a French that had beaten them 12-9 in the group stages of the competition as the two sides met for the second time in the play-off for 14th place.

The French looked set to cruise to a commanding victory on Thursday when they took a commanding 8-3 lead when ends were changed.

But the Maltese refused to throw in the towel and laid siege to the French goals in the final two sessions, only to finish just one goal short as they were beaten 9-8.

The first session was evenly balanced with the French side leading the Maltese 3-1 with Alec Fenech converting a penalty.

In the second session, the French side seemed to run away with the match, scoring five times to take a commanding 8-3 lead.

Malta’s two goals in the session were scored by Jayden Cutajar, the second from a penalty.

But the Maltese kept fighting and despite losing Cutajar and Max Zammit, who were excluded by substitution they managed to cut the deficit to 9-5 with Fenech helping himself to a brace.

In the final session, the Maltese youngsters used every ounce of their energy to try and salvage the match.

However, the French somehow survived with Luigi Mallia denied from an equaliser by the French goalkeeper who earned his team a 9-8 win.