Malta-France 6-12
(0-3, 1-2, 3-3, 2-4)
Malta succumbed to its third defeat from as many matches in the European Waterpolo championships, losing to France who have made it to the last 12 stage of the competition. Malta, on the other hand, finished last in the group with no points and will now face Slovakia on Sunday for matches that will serve to establish the teams that place 13th to 16th.
It was the best score for Malta so far, and some better positioning and accuracy from man-up situations could have made it better. Malta managed only three goals from 12 chances of numerical superiority. There were times were Malta were on the same level as their opponents, but in other situations they allowed them too much space in defence and conceded easy goals. In attack, France's press often made it hard for Malta to find time and space to shoot at goal.
The early injury to Dino Zammit meant Malta played most of the game with one fewer player available, and this reduced Karl Izzo’s choices as well as added more pressure on the rest of the players who had to spend more time in the water.
Zammit’s immediate injury in the first minutes of the game – the San Giljan player had to abandon the pitch with an arm in a sling – had a negative impact on the Maltese side, which succumbed to three goals in the first session scored by Guillaume, Vanpeperstraete and Crousillat, while Izzo’s boys missed the first two man-up situations.
Matters were slightly better in the second quarter, although Malta continued to commit silly mistakes that cost it possession while finding it hard to mount dangerous attacks. Still, good goalkeeping by Nicky Grixti kept the French from running away with the game. Left-hander Crousillat was the French team’s most dangerous man, scoring twice in this session, with Steve Camilleri replying for Malta on a man-up occasion.
The third session was probably Malta’s best so far in the competition, and Izzo’s boys shared six goals with their opponents. Gabarretta pulled one back for Malta for a 5-2 score but Crousillet, Vanpeperstraete and Olivon widened the gap to 8-2 before Ben Plumpton and Aurelien Cousin reduced the arrears to 8-4. Jake Tanti replaced Grixti in the Maltese goal and continued where his colleague left off, keeping the French at bay on several occasions.
The effort in the third quarter took its toll in the fourth, as the Maltese side appeared physically tired and were surprised by fast breaks that extended the French lead. Khasz and Saudadier added two more goals for France for a 10-4 lead before Matthew Zammit pulled one back for Malta. But France remained the superior side with more goals from Lepoint and Marion-Vernaux, with Ben Plumpton scoring the last goal of the game for a 12-6 final score.