ITALY            19

MALTA            6

(5-3, 4-1, 5-2, 5-0)

The Malta U-15 lost their opening match at the European Championship finals when they lost to Italy 19-6 in Loule, Portugal, on Sunday.

Anthony Farrugia’s boys were making their debut in the continental finals against one of the tournament favourites and held their own for much of the match.

In fact, the Maltese boys managed to remain in the match for much of the opening two sessions. The Italians edged the opening session to take a 5-3 lead and then went on to surge into a commanding 9-4 lead when the ends were changed.

In the final two sessions, the Italians’ superior physical prowess came to the fore as they managed to distance themselves with their opponents scoring ten times and conceded just two goals.

Continue reading this article on SportsDesk, the sports website of the Times of Malta