SLOVENIA      10

MALTA            8

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

Malta’s hopes to secure their best-ever placing at a European Championship were ended by Slovenia as the latter prevailed 9-6 in the positional play-off in Dubrovnik.

It was a disappointing outcome to a match which saw the Maltese start brightly but their profligacy in front of goal came back to haunt them as they were severely punished by the more accurate Slovenian forwards who managed to take the majority of the opportunities that came their way.

Following this defeat, the national team will now have to play against Israel in the play-off for 15th and 16th place on Saturday.

The first session turned out to be a hard-fought affair with the Slovenians twice surging ahead with goals from Aleksandar Cerar and Aljaz Troppan from a man-up set.

But the Maltese fought back and goals from Jayden Cutajar and Liam Galea ensured the session ended in parity.

Read full story on sport.timesofmalta.com

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