Malta women overcome South Africa to bag second win at World Cup Division II

Just one day after their 22-11 defeat to Croatia, the Maltese girls looked for a strong response, and they duly provided it with a clinical display against their South African opponents.

Elena Borg was Malta’s leading scorer with four goals while Chloe Amato bagged a hat-trick.

This result already assures the Maltese girls their best performance in these championships, as they will now be involved in the play-offs between ninth and 12th place.

On Saturday, they will be up against Argentina.

The first session saw the South Africans take early control of the match when racing to a two-goal lead.

But the Maltese girls kept their poise and managed to level matters courtesy of goals from Elena Borg, one from a penalty, and the other following a man-up set.

Gradually, the hosts seized control as further goals from Chloe Amato, Marlerose Tully, and Borg ensured the team ended the first session 5-3 ahead.

Two goals midway through the second session propelled the Maltese girls to a commanding 7-3 lead before the South Africans scored twice in succession to bridge the gap to just two goals.

But with less than 17 seconds to the interval, Tully struck to put Malta 8-5 ahead when the ends were changed.

In the third session, goals from Chloe Amato and Martha Perici Ferrante put the Maltese in control as they led 10-7 before the start of the final quarter.

Malta kept pushing in the final session, scoring four times through Francesca Paolella, Amato and an Ella Miceli double to seal a comfortable 14-8 win.