Malta survive Hungarian second-half charge

Malta 35
Hungary 27

The Malta rugby national team are only one match away from a third consecutive promotion in the European Nations Cup. Yesterday, they survived Hungary's second-half revival before scraping to a 35-27 win that extended their impressive unbeaten record in international competition to 10 matches.

Malta are joint top of Group 3A along with Moldova on nine points.

On Saturday, the two front-runners will meet in a decisive qualifier in Chisinau with the winner earning a place in Division 2B next season.

By the end of the first half, the hosts seemed coasting to a sound win as they completely outplayed their opponents, opening a commanding lead at the break.

Indeed, Graham Richards' decision to quit the national team after the next qualifier, did not seem to have left a negative effect on the players... at least until half-time.

On the restart, the situation changed dramatically. Malta failed to keep the momentum going and the loss of stand-off Rohan Spiteri, through injury, further complicated matters as the Magyars grew in stature to close the gap to just three points with five minutes to go.

Oliver Sacco's late try settled the sizable crowd's nerves as Richards' men went on to celebrate yet another win.

The coach's decision to deploy Jamie Caruana in a centre position along with Adam Magro proved to be a masterstroke as the two took control of proceedings, opening several gaps in a hesitant Hungarian defence.

Spiteri scored two tries and hit two penalty kicks with another two tries coming from Sacco and Nick Warren. Malta led 25-3 at the break. Kornel Ardelan scored the only points for Hungary from a penalty kick.

On the change of ends, Spiteri was replaced by Chris Vassallo after failing to recover from knee trouble.

At that point, the change seemed to have made no impact on Malta as Martin Mallia extended the advantage even further with a try after some well-constructed.

Then, suddenly, the Maltese seemed to have lost the plot. Istvan Hock, Tamas Nagy and Ardelan scored tries for the visitors to reduce the gap. Ardelan rifled in four penalty kicks. Hungary were only three points behind now - 30-27.

Tension reached boiling point at this stage - Malta's fort looked like crumbling to the Hungarians' determination. However, one minute from time, a slick move between Magro and Caruana set up Sacco for a crucial late try. Malta's win was sealed... but only just.

Malta: J. Sultana, N. Warren, A. Magro, J. Caruana, O. Sacco, R. Spiteri (C. Vassallo), J. Dimond, S. Kempster, D. Grima, S. Haycock, D. Gasan (P. Azzopardi), C. Diamantino, S. Worthington (I. Borda), M. Mallia, T. Webb.

Hungary: K. Ardelan, B. Kendl, F. Zaolt (G. Beke), S. Hegedas, T. Nagy, G. Ivanfl (B. Bohm), T. Pfeiffer, L. Soloal, Z. Koller, A. Kovacs, R. Deli Ernest (T. Maroai), A. Balazs, I. Toth, I. Hock, Z. Heckel.

Referee: A. Slavec (Slovenia).

Post-Match Comments...

Graham Richards had mixed feelings on the performance of his players yesterday. The Welsh coach described the first-half showing as the best ever had, but admitted that complacency crept inside the team after the change of ends. At the end, it almost cost them the match.

"It was a real nail-biting affair out there," Richards told The Sunday Times. "In the first half we were simply outstanding. For the past two years we have worked hard to reach that kind of flowing game. That put us in a comfortable position going into the break 25-3 up.

"However, that advantage worked against us after the break. The team lost most of its cohesion and committed several errors that helped Hungary to get back into the match.

"We have to thank some of our key players I guess. In the end, their experience made all the difference. That late try was a great relief."

Thanks to the three points, Malta will now force a promotion decider on Saturday against Moldova. Royal Navy centre Jamie Caruana is confident the players will regain composure in the build-up for the match in Chisinau.

"The Moldova match is going to be a final for both teams," Caruana said.

"Whoever wins it means promotion to Division 2B.

"We are playing well at the moment even though we should forget all about our second-half showing today. Moldova look stronger than Hungary but if we produce the same kind of play as that of the first half today then we stand a good chance of extending our unbeaten record by one more match."