Malta today succumbed to its second defeat in the LEN Europa Cup which is being played in Croatia.

The national team led by Karl Izzo lost to The Netherlands with a 12-8 score, a defeat that materialised mostly in the first session during which the Dutch built a three-goal cushion which they maintained for most of the game before they pulled further away in the final quarter.

After an initial first session dominated by the Dutch, the Maltese team was able to keep up the pace for the middle two sessions, both of which ended in a draw. The Dutch however made matters more comfortable for them in the final quarter, during which Malta lost Jordan Camilleri and Dino Zammit with three fouls.

The session scores were 1-4, 2-2, 4-4, 1-2.

Malta’s goals were scored by Dino Zammit, Aurelien Cousin, Steve Camilleri (4), Matthew Zammit, Ben Plumpton.

On Thursday, Malta had lost 17-3 to Serbia.

Malta is preparing for the double encounter against Belarus with the winning team to qualify for the European championships to be played in Barcelona in June.

The 13 players in Split are: Nicholas Grixti (Sirens), Nicholas Bugelli (Sliema), Andreas Galea (San Ġiljan), Darren Zammit (San Ġiljan), Jeremy Abela (Neptunes), Matthew Zammit (San Ġiljan), Stevie Camilleri (Neptunes), Jordan Camilleri (Neptunes), Ben Plumpton (San Ġiljan), Aurelien Cousin (Exiles), Zach Mizzi (Sliema), Dino Zammit (San Ġiljan), Jake Tanti (San Ġiljan)