MALTA            12

TURKEY            8

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

The Malta U-17 national team picked up their first ever victory in the European Championships when they beat Turkey 13-8 in their second group match in Tbilisi on Monday.

It was an eye-catching performance from Karl Izzo’s boys who bounced back in style from Sunday’s 20-4 defeat to tournament favourites Italy.

The Maltese youngsters built their victory on a sprightly showing, particularly in the opening two sessions which saw them open a commanding three-goal lead, 9-6.

In the last two sessions, the Maltese did well to fend off Turkey’s fightback, particularly in the third quarter, to seal their win with two well-taken goals in the last session.

Jake Muscat was Malta’s top performer as the Neptunes players played a starring role in front of goal when scoring six goals.

“I’m so happy and proud of my players,” Izzo told the Times of Malta.

“This is an historic result for Maltese waterpolo as this win will enable us to finish among the top 12 teams in Europe. This is an amazing result and it’s all the fruit of a great team performance.

“Tactically my players were perfect and they played a perfect game. I don’t like to single out players but special praise must go to our goalkeeper Marco Rossi who had an outstanding display as well as Jake Bonavia and Jake Muscat.

“But all the players deserve credit for achieving a win against a very strong opponent who had impressed a lot in the qualifying campaign for these championships.”

The Malta coach said that the players had shown great fighting spirit to secure this win.

“We knew that Turkey were going to be very difficult opponents, but my players took to the water fully motivated and determined to get the right result,” the Malta coach said.

“This win in an historic feat for our sport and hopefully this will be the starting point for better things to come in Maltese waterpolo. I hope that today’s result will attract more support towards our sport so we can further establish ourselves among the best teams on the continent.

“Special thanks goes to my technical staff, the ASA president Joe Caruana Curran and everyone who has always been there for us to give us their backing.”

Malta were off to a fast start and quick-fire goals from Lucas Falzon and Jake Bonavia put them 2-0 up.

Turkey did pull a goal back but two goals from Jake Muscat and another from Mark Carani ensured the Maltese ended the first session 5-3 ahead.

In the second quarter, there was a balanced start with both teams sharing four goals with Muscat reaching his poker.

Muscat, who after these championships is heading to continue his career in Montenegro, continued to make all the difference when banging in another two goals to put Malta 9-6 ahead at the interval.

Turkey tried to force their way back into the match in the third quarter, but they could only edge it by the odd goal in three, with Bonavia again on the mark for Malta who started the final session 10-8 ahead.

But the Maltese regained control of the match in the final quarter as goals from Bonavia and Gianni Farrugia sealed a famous win for the Maltese youngsters.

Today, Malta take on Russia in the final group game that will decide their opponents in the cross-over phase.

MALTA: M. Vassallo, J. Farrugia, N. Schiavone, G. Melillo, M. Carani 1, B. Cachia, L. Falzon 1, S. Busuttil, G. Farrugia 1, J. Bonavia 3, M. Chircop, J. Muscat 6, M. Rossi.

TURKEY: O. Ipek, B. Aksoy 2, H. Mogultay, T. Temel, D. Demirel, E. Koyuncu, B. Olcay, H. Ketenci 1, A. Kaner 1, M. Yutmaz 1, D. Ozar 2, T. Kosova 1, M. Meral.

Referees: Gernot Haentschel (Germany), Alban David (France).

 

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