Malta U-21 3

Italy U-20 1

Malta U-21: R. Gauci, A. Muscat, S. Bajada, S. Tellus, R. Mintoff, G. Sciberras, T. Cilia (J. Mifsud), C. Cassar (A. Agius), A. Schembri (N. Baldacchino), C. Frendo (T. Scerri), M. Brincat (C. Failla, D. Camenzuli).

Italy U-20: E. Viviano, M. Zambelli, A. D’Agostino (D. Nossa), A. Nocerino (G. Esposito), A. Coda (L. Rossettini), M. Canini, L. Carotti, M. Troiano, R. Meggiorini (G. D’Agostino), T. Sorrentino, D. Galloppa.

Referee: C. Lautier.

Asst refs: I. Spiteri, N. Debattista.

4th official: A. Casha.

Yellow card: A. Agius, M. Troiano.

A biting cold and some hail showers did not deter Mark Miller’s Malta boys (Under 21) yesterday as they registered a prestigious win over Italy’s Under 20 side yesterday at the Hibs Ground, winning the encounter convincingly 3-1.

The Maltese played a diligent game, especially at the back where they distinguished themselves with some great organisation.

Somewhat surprising was the inclusion by coach Mark Miller of the inactive Andre Schembri. The Hibs striker has not yet ironed out his differences with the club and has missed a good number of league matches. Usually such players are not included in respect of other players who play regularly in the league.

In any case, this proved to be a really good test for Malta’s youngsters, especially for the defence which was forced to work hard by the strong tackling Italians.

In the first half, that early goal from Shaun Bajada – a splendidly-taken freekick – provided the necessary confidence to the local boys and it was a delight to see them moving out of their defensive shell with purpose, so much so that near the end of the half, Andre Schembri made the most of a defensive lapse to double the lead.

In the second half, it was mostly the same story with the Italians trying hard to get back into the game but with Malta, spearheaded in defence by an impeccable Ryan Mintoff and Shaun Tellus in the middle and the effectivene Shaun Bajada and Alex Muscat on the two flanks, were resolute and never gave away an inch.

Though official Chris Lautier deemed it fit to award the Italians what appeared to be an inexistent penalty, the Maltese hit back to score a third goal and emerge triumphantly from this test.

Malta took an early lead when after only three minutes, Shaun Bajada scored a beauty of a goal direct from a free-kick.

On 19 minutes, the same Bajada had another effort from outside the area going over Viviano’s post.

On 21 minutes, Italy replied through a Zambelli cross, which was fired first time by Galloppa, but the ball was blocked by Muscat.

On 25 minutes, Nocerino lifted a freekick from the edge of the area over the post.

Three minutes later, after an Alex Muscat mishit, Meggiorini saw his shot going wide.

It was 2-0 for Malta on 43 minutes – in the midst of a hail shower. Receiving a long pass from Christian Cassar, Andre Schembri won a tackle with goalie Viviano and Coda and then easily placed the ball into the untenanted net.

The second half started under another shower of hail. The Italians pressed to get back a goal but were rarely allowed to have a pot at goal. On 25 minutes, Gauci was called into action for the first time, rushing out of his charge to block on Sorrentino and D’Agostino.

Referee Lautier gave Italy the opportunity to get back into the game when he surprisingly whistled for a penalty when Sorrentino appeared to have slipped in the area – certainly not a surprise in those conditions – and from the spotkick, Sorrentino sent Gauci the wrong side.

With 10 minutes to go, Scerri and Baldacchino advanced with only Carotti facing them, but Baldacchino, afer receiving from Scerri, was surrounded by a cluster of defenders and lost the ball.

On 85 minutes with the completely unmarked Baldacchino crying for the ball, Cilia elected to shoot from well outside the area, missing the target completely.

Two minutes later, however, the Maltese struck again. It was Terence Scerri who crossed low into the Italian area for Nicolo Baldacchino to extend his foot and plant the ball into the net.

At the end they richly deserved the applause of the about 300 spectators who braved the cold at the Hibs Ground.