Waterpolo European championships qualifier: Malta lose against Belarus by one goal

Saturday, 24 February 2018, 16:29 Last update: about 7 years ago

The Malta team will look ahead for a second consecutive qualification to the LEN European Water Polo Championships.

Belarus-Malta 8-7

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

Malta lost by one goal in the first leg of the European championships qualifier against Belarus, leaving the double-tie wide open. The second leg will be played in Malta on 3 March at 4pm, with Malta needing to win by two goals to secure qualification to the European championships to be played in Barcelona in June.

Malta had a brilliant start to the game, scoring four goals in the first 12 minutes to Belarus’s one. But a two-minute black-out for the Maltese side late in the second session enabled Belarus to draw level, and for long stretches the Belarusians were the better team. In between the 12^th and 25^th minute of the game Malta managed just one goal, but made things better in the last two minutes with two more goals for an 8-7 final score.

Malta took the lead with a Matthew Zammit goal after just 24 seconds. The first session was a tight affair with both teams missing man-up opportunities before Aurelien Cousin made it 2-0 for Malta with 48 seconds to go.

Ivanou reduced the arrears for Belarus at the start of the second session, but Malta opened a three-goal gap with goals from Cousin (man-up) and a Steve Camilleri penalty. The Belarusians picked up a steadier pace and scored three goals in two minutes through Padziarun (2) and Chuprina for a 4-4 score at the change of ends.

Cousin notched his hat-trick at the start of the third quarter, but Kharlap equalised for the home side, a goal that also cost Malta coach Karl Izzo a yellow card for protests. Both sides again missed man-up occasions before Kuzmenko put Belarus in front for the first time in the match, at 6-5, with 31 seconds to go till the end of the session.

Belarus opened up a three-goal gap in final quarter, Shalamitski and Kuzmenko scoring the goals, but Matthew Zammit and Cousin replied for Malta for a final 8-7 score.

Malta played with the following formation: Nicholas Grixti (Sirens), 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)

Nicholas Bugelli (Sliema) was missing from the squad because of illness.