After thrashing Scotland in the morning session, the Maltese struck another bright patch yesterday when they defeated Denmark 21-8 in the last match of the evening.

With both teams having five to six new faces in their squad since the two sides last met it was the Maltese that had by far the upper hand.

The sporting hostilities started on an even keel as eight goals were shared in the opening quarter.

After that the locals raised their game immeasurably to thump their opponents in no uncertain way.

It was arguably the best fare Malta put up. Shot efficiency, extra man scoring ratio and clinical finishing on the break could not be matched by the visitors.

Matthew Zammit was again the leading scorer for Malta with six goals.

This tally was emulated by the all-purpose player Jordan Camilleri, whose covering at the back and that of his colleagues annulled the opponents’ efforts.

The morning commitment for Malta turned out to be a leisurely stroll when Karl Izzo’s team disposed of Scotland as easily as the 19-1 scoreline indicates.

The hosts simply lived in another street as they kept piling the goals at regular intervals.

The disparity was so clear that ten of the 13-man squad put their name on the scorers’ list for Malta, with Matthew Zammit and Jerome Gabarretta each netting four goals followed by a brace from Mark Meli, Jordan Micallef and Dino Zammit.

The Scots were unable to stop the rot and the longer the game went the more evident the stamp of a mismatch became.

Summaries

Scotland 1
Malta 19

(0-4, 0-4, 1-5, 0-6)

Scotland: B. Donevski, J. Scobie, J. Brown, S. Pritchett, L. Shepherd 1, D. Campbell, D. Baxter, F. Rutherford, C. Campbell, M. Speed, H. Collineau, A. Campbell, S. Metcalfe.

Malta: N. Grixti, J. Gabarretta 4, P. Borg 1, N. Bugelli, M. Meli 2, M. Zammit 4, C. Cluett 1, J. Camilleri 2, B. Plumpton 1, A. Cousin 1, M. Rizzo 1, D. Zammit 2, R. Coleiro.

Refs: A. Goncharenko (Ukraine), M. Michalak (Poland).

Malta 21
Denmark 8

(4-4, 5-2, 5-2, 7-0)

Malta: N. Grixti, J. Gabarretta 3, P. Borg 1, N. Bugelli, M. Meli, M. Zammit 6, M. Spiteri Staines, J. Camilleri 6, B. Plumpton 1, A. Cousin 1, M. Rizzo 1, D. Zammit 2, R. Coleiro.

Denmark: J, Jorgensen, S. Pedersen 1, S. Vaimanuarii 2, N. Bagenkop, F. Petersen, C. Andersen 1, N. Mejer, M. Bagen-kop 3, N. Hassel, N. Bagen-kop, B. Holten 1, A. Greve, S. Pedersen.

Refs: A. Goncharenko (Ukraine), D. Taylor (Wales).

Group A

Wales 6
Austria 11

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

S. Africa1 6
Austria 6

(5-1, 7-0, 2-3, 2-2)

Lithuania 9
Ireland 9

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

Ireland 17
Wales 14

(2-1, 6-3, 6-3, 3-7)

Group B

Denmark 5
Switzerland 6

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

Poland 11
Scotland 6

(1-1, 4-1, 3-1, 3-3)

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.