A gallant Malta side yesterday obtained a prestigious in Sofia holding Bulgaria to a 1-1 draw. The result cancels Malta's 0-6 drubbing against the same Bulgaria in the same Sofia stadium some 18 months ago.

Malta played a great game, especially at the end of the first half and at the start of the second period after a rather difficult start. In fact the Maltese were far from convincing in the opening stages, suffering an early goal, and always in panic mode whenever the Bulgarians crossed inside the area.

But slowly and surely, the Maltese grew in composure, with Valletta skipper Rodrick Briffa playing a blinder, with Paul Fenech and Clayton Failla also in outstanding form. Rowen Muscat almost marred a good performance when he gave away a penalty in the closing stages of the match.

Goalkeeper Andrew Hogg had another solid display, inspiring confidence to the whole defensive setup, which welcomed back Jonathan Caruana who had a solid display. Andrei Agius was very effective after some difficult moments against Galabinov at the start of the match.

Zach Muscat too was one of Malta's most positive players. Striker Jean Paul Farrugia made his debut with the national team, filling in for the suspended Michael Mifsud. His debut was not an easy one, but he managed to win the decisive penalty for Malta after some good work from the polished Andre Schembri.

Bulgaria immediately made their intensions clear storming forward from the initial whistle and going near after only two minutes with a Popov shot from just inside the area, but the striker's effort missed the target.

On six minutes Bulgaria forged ahead when a cross from the left was headed by Aleksandrov, in a rather dubious offside position, towards Andrey Galabinov who from close range managed to anticipate Andrew Hogg to score.

Malta was under shock and three minutes later the Bulgarians almost doubled the score when Galabinov easily penetrated the static Malta defence from another Aleksandrov cross, but his chip from an acute angle finished slightly over the bar.

The Maltese tried to contain their opponents with possession football and even ventured forward when possible, but looked very plucky at the back. On 22 minutes a Zach Muscat backpass forced goalkeeper Andrew Hogg to a desperate sortie.

Four minutes later Galabinov again anticipated Andrei Agius, but his fierce drive skimmed the crossbar with Hogg beaten. On 35 minutes captain Rodrick Briffa tried his luck from a distance, but his shot was completely off target.

However two minutes later the locals had a good move with a Paul Fenech scorcher blocked by a defender. On the other end, Hibernians defender Andrei Agius proved to be providential when he blocked a Dyakov shot.

On 39 minutes malta had penalty appeals turned down by Swedish referee Strombergsson when Rodrick Briffa's cross was handled by Terziev. The TV replays clearly showed that Malta's penalty appeals were more than justified.

On the resumption both Penev and Ghedin made no substitutions but the locals started on a high with Rodrick Briffa and Paul Fenech outstanding in midfield.

Three minutes into the second half, Andre Schembri passed towards Jean Paul Farrugia who was pulled down by Minev inside the penalty area, and this time the Swedish official pointed to the penalty spot.

From the penalty spot Clayton Failla made no mistake as Malta scored its first goal of the qualifiers. The Maltese were now brimming with confidence two minutes later came close to a stunning lead when Andre Schembri's header was not met by Zach Muscat with an open goal at his mercy.

Bulgaria coach Penev made a double substitution introducing Marquinhos and Mitsanski for Milanov and Galabinov and the move almost gave immediate positive results for the hosts with Mitsanski passing towards Popov whose effort was brilliantly blocked by Hogg.

Andrew Hogg was rather lucky minutes later when he was completely beaten by a Manolev header, but the ball finished against the upright.

On 75 minutes Malta's were jolted when Rowen Muscat lost control of a harmless cross and committed a penalty on Mitsanski in an attempt to recover. From the penalty spot Ivelin Popov blasted the ball over the bar.

Coach Pietro Ghedin made his first change twelve minutes from time introducing Ryan Fenech for Andre Schembri and two minutes later he had to make the second change as Clayton Failla limped off, with Steve Bezzina taking his place.

The last minutes of the match were endless for our lads as the Bulgarians pressed desperately forward in search of the winner. The Malta defence passed through some very anxious moments, but Hogg, Caruana, and Andrei Agius were always on the alert, and after four long minutes of stoppage time, the referee finally blew the final whistle, with Malta obtaining its first point in the Euro 2016 qualifiers.