Stevie Camilleri, Jake Tanti to the rescue as Malta battle past Ukraine in Euro qualifiers

MALTA 13

UKRAINE 11

(5-2, 2-3, 2-4,4-2)

Malta emerged victorious from a rollercoaster encounter, staging a late comeback to overcome Ukraine and claim a vital opening win in Group D of the European Championship qualifiers.

While the old adage says a good start is half the battle, in waterpolo nothing is ever guaranteed – and even the most optimistic Ukrainian supporter would have admitted their side faced an uphill task after trailing 5-2 in the opening session.

Led by coach Milan Cirovic, Malta may have briefly entertained thoughts of a routine win, but three turbulent quarters later, that illusion had long faded.

It took a late brace from captain Stevie Camilleri to finally put distance between the teams and seal a hard-fought, crucial victory in this direct clash.

Malta’s starting line-up featured three left-handers — Jayden Cutajar, Nikolai Zammit, and Matthew Zammit – a testament to the depth of talent in the Maltese squad, with the return of Zammit, who followed in the footsteps of Camilleri by coming out of international retirement.

Malta had made the perfect start to take a 5-2 lead by the end of the first quarter, with goals coming from the returning Matthew Zammit (2), Jayden Cutajar, Liam Galea, and Nikolai Zammit.

But then Malta became wasteful, losing their early sharpness and surrendering the initiative to Ukraine, who tried to pick up the pieces with three goals in the second session. But Camilleri on 6-3 and Benji Cachia on 7-4, kept their opponents at arms’ length.

With Jake Muscat hanging on two exclusions, Malta changed ends 7-5 in front.

But Dmytro Ashanin was proving to be a thorn in the Maltese side as he scored his fourth early in the third session.

No sooner had Malta restored their two-goal cushion – first through Zammit, who completed his hat-trick to make it 8-6, and then Camilleri with a five-metre strike for 9-7 – than the Ukrainians hit back immediately to stay within touching distance.

On 9-8, Cirovic called a time-out to try and bring sanity into their game. Yet, they contrived to squander another man-up situation before Danylo Sokolov made it 9-9, with the goal coming on the stroke of the session time.

It was everything to play for as the fourth session started with Cutajar converting a man-up situation before Oktavian Veklyuk made it 10-10.

Disaster struck five minutes from time when Kostiantyn Alieksieiev put Ukraine ahead for the first time in the match. But Malta responded swiftly. Just a minute later, Jake Bonavia handed his side a lifeline by drawing level.

With momentum shifting, the Maltese side rose to the occasion. Skipper Camilleri led by example, netting twice in the closing stages to seal a hard-fought 13-11 victory.

Equally crucial was goalkeeper Jake Tanti, whose decisive block – sandwiched between Camilleri’s goals – kept Malta’s hopes alive and ultimately helped secure the win.

MALTA: J. Tanti, J. Muscat, L. Galea 1, B. Cachia 1, S. Gialanze, M. Zammit 3, S. Camilleri 4, J. Cutajar 2, J. Abela, N. Zammit 1, D. Zammit, J. Bonavia 1, B. Busuttil, E. Schembri

UKRAINE: K. Nikolskyi, O. Veklyuk 1, Y. Artsyshevskyy, D. Ashanin 5, D. Rakitin, R. Gryshchuk 1, D. Sokolov 1, C. Ahadzhanov, D. Gusakov 1, K. Alieksieiev 1, A. Labyk 1, I. Liuninskyi, V. Kovtun, V. Voitenko

Refs: M. Gerasimov (Great Britain), L. Krol (Poland).

PLAYING ON TUESDAY: 18.00 France vs Ukraine; 19.30 Malta vs Portugal.

OTHER RESULT: France vs Portugal 19-7