Watch: Malta U-18 national team edge Poland to secure top-ten finish at European Championships

The Malta U-18 national team produced another heroic performance at the European Championship finals, beating Poland 15-14 in a penalty shoot-out and setting up a rematch against Germany for ninth place.

It was another hard-fought victory for the Maltese players, who needed to show all their character to see off Poland and secure a top-ten finish in these prestigious championships.

Jonathan Valletta’s boys were off to a flyer in the first session as goals from Julian Chircop and Jayden Cutajar put them two goals up, but the Polish side fought to score three goals without reply.

Sam Engerer fired home the equaliser with only 15 seconds left for three-all.

The second session turned out to be another hard-fought affair with the Polish side edging it 2-1 and taking a one-goal lead when ends were changed – 5.4. Julian Chircop was Malta’s scorer in this session.

Malta’s character came to the fore in the third session when they managed to score three times through Mallia, and Chircop (2), but lost the same Mallia and Miguel Cassar after they were excluded with substitution, with the match level at seven-all.

The final session was a real nail-biter, with Poland taking the lead twice, but each time Malta fought back, as goals from Giancarlo Gatt and Cutajar levelled matters at 9-9 to force a penalty shoot-out.

The drama continued as Poland took the early advantage when Kydon Agius hit the post but the same fate fell to Adrian Pawlak, leaving the match level.

Both teams scored their next four penalties, but the breakthrough arrived when Kydon Agius put Malta 15-14 ahead, and Pawlak again hit the post to hand the victory to the jubilant Maltese clan.