Malta’s first match was against eventual gold medal winners Luxembourg. This game also opened all the basketball competitions in Andorra.

It is no secret that there is no love lost between Malta and Luxembourg in the female sector. Our record against Luxembourg is not that rosy and it was definitely so morale-boosting to beat them two years ago and surpass them on the final podium.

In Luxembourg’s eyes, their female side’s venture two years ago in the Malta games was dismal and a disaster. Thus the administration embarked on an intensive programme where most of the technical staff was sacked and new coaches (with their own plans and programmes) set in.

Malta started off on a positive note with the score being very tight, 8-7, after the first period of play. In these stages, both sides were eyeing each other and the low score reflects the tension on the court.

Luxembourg improved slightly in the second period so that at half time the margin was of 4 points, 22-18.

The start of the third period resulted in Malta’s downfall as the locals suffered a large 17-0 break, in a matter of a few minutes, to go 44-20 down. This was the psychological break needed by Luxembourg and from then till the end of the game, they controlled the proceedings to end winners to the tune of 63-37.

Malta’s coach, Italian Santino Coppa, made use of ten players for the match with no player registering personal double-figure points. Malta shot at 20% hitting 12 from 59 attempts on two point tries whilst missing three long distance shots. Free-throws stood at 56.5% when thirteen of 23 free throws were scored.

Luxembourg were superior under the boards when their players brought down a total of 46 rebounds (32 defensive) whereas the locals had a total of 30 (21 defensive) whilst as regards fouls, Malta were whistled for 20 fouls (Parnis fouled out) whilst Luxembourg had no one fouled out even if they were called for 25 fouls.

On the same day, Iceland registered a handsome 71-29 win over hosts Andorra.

Day two of the Games had Malta facing Iceland, a team that was beaten, for the first time, after a difficult match two years prior at Tal-Qroqq.

Similar to Luxembourg, the Icelanders wanted to erase their poor show in Malta in 2003 and are presently working hard on the youth sectors to produce more technical players in the future. For the Andorra games, they presented a mixture of experienced players and young talents.

Once again Malta got off on a high note leading 11-10 after 5 minutes but then suffering a late charge by their opponents so that the first period ended 19-13 for Iceland.

The margin between the two sides started increasing during the second period, 27-19 after 5 minutes and 47-33 at half-time.

Hopes of a comeback were lost as Iceland commenced the second half in a very concentrated way and made certain of a victory as they outscored the locals 21-8 during the third period. The last period was more balanced as bench players made their way onto the court.

All the Maltese players were used for this match where the locals’ field goal shooting improved from the first game with 38% (20 on 53 two-point attempts) but only one 3-point shot from eleven attempts. The Icelanders shot at 48% (29 on 61) at 2 points and 22% for long distance shots (six 3-pointers from 27 attempts). Their free shot precision was far better then Malta’s. In fact Iceland had 12 from 15 (80%) whilst Malta was poor with just 39% (7 on 18). As in the first game, Malta were called for less fouls than their opponents with 17 whilst Iceland had 20 (one player fouled-out).

Josephine Grima was by far Malta’s best scorer when she netted 26 points with a healthy 52% field goal percentage and six from eight free throws.

The third day of competition commenced with Luxembourg grabbing a very important win, 57-48, over Iceland, thus almost making sure of the gold medal.

Later in the day Malta was scheduled to play hosts Andorra in what was clearly the bronze medal game.

Andorra have renounced from taking part in the female basketball tournament of the Small Nations Games in the last editions. However the Maltese side has encountered Andorra on a number of occasions in the Promotion Cups (albeit under different and tighter eligibility rules). In the late nineties wins were shared between the two nations but in the last years Malta has always had the upper edge.

Malta got off to a good start opening with the first 8 points of the game (this was eventually the highest break in the game) and never let go of the lead where there was also a maximum of +21.

Andorra tried to reply at 4-10 after five minutes but by the end of the first period the locals were 17-5 ahead. The second period was similar with Malta believing in a win and going 34-15 in the lead at halftime.

Andorra improved in the second half but the locals managed to thwart and neutralize off most of their efforts and never let go of a double figure lead to end up 56-42 winners.

In the rebounds totals, Malta just pipped their opponents with 37 against 36 whilst Andorra committed 28 fouls against Malta’s 26.

Malta’s attempts were all from 2 points where a 34.4% shooting rate was registered (15 from 44 shots) whilst the free throws improved from the day before for 61% (26 from 43). Andorra had a lower shooting percentage with 29% filed goals, 14% from 3 points and 57% as regards free shots.

There have been many comments on this performance. The majority of the media has deemed it a poor performance whilst the MBA has said that, given the circumstances, it is quite a good result as it meant the third medal in to years.

My opinion is that there really were some new faces in the team but there were also some players who had a good season missing from the squad. But then there is always the coach’s policy and the players have to adapt to such requisites.

Three weeks ago, in this column, I had written that Cyprus’ late withdrawal might be a blessing in disguise and in fact it was in a certain way as the bronze medal would have been much tougher to obtain.

However despite performing less than expected, one should not lose hope. The 2003 success did not come overnight but through a thorough and dedicated plan with everybody working consistently and very hard and with a great appetite to learn and improve . Maybe Coppa was right when he stated that a lot of time was wasted following the gold medal as even winners cannot rest on their laurels but must work hard to improve further as sport competition today is very dynamic and what counts today might be inadequate in some months time.

Let us learn from our mistakes and aim for better performances in the future.

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