Waterpolo continued to steal the attention of the local sports scene as they claimed the EU Nations tournament with a 14-13 win against South Africa in a thrilling encounter.
This win continued to give a boost to the sterling work done by the association, staff and players as Karl Izzo’s team had to do without captain Steve Camilleri and Alan Borg Cole apart from Jerome Gabarretta, Nicholas Bugelli and Christian Cluett who didn’t finish the tournament.
Missing also for the first time was Niki Lanzon who retired from the national team in January. Only 11 players were available for the game.
South Africa started the game on a high, hitting Malta with three goals from Pierre and Etienne Le Roux and Devon Card. Karl Izzo’s team made a good reaction relying mainly on man-up situations. They managed to scored three man-ups and a penalty also resulting from a man-up situation. South Africa levelled matters from Evezard, but Matthew Zammit restored the one goal difference with a powerful shot.
The National team made it 6-4 when Matthew Zammit came face to face with the South Africa goalkeeper after a good steal by Plumpton.
Malta’s squad continued to shrink as Mark Meli was sent off with substitution midway the second session. South Africa scored from that action and levelled things up. Aurelien Cousin made the score 7-6 from a central position but a beatiful backhand in the corner by Devon Card kept both teams equal.
Malta’s number 6 continued to be a goal machine inventing brilliant goals from the center position but a brace by Card in between kept the score tight. The last session confirmed the balanced affair between both teams as Malta tried to score a two-goal lead but South Africa responded four times to keep the game intact. But the Maltese defence kept calm and solid to claim the win.
At the end of the game, the ASA Secretary Rita Azzopardi and Vice President Karl Galea presented the medals to both teams and the winning trophy to the captain Matthew Zammit who also finished the tournament as the best scorer and the best player as voted by the coaches.