Malta’s U/21 commitments in the European Championship qualifiers ended in disappointment as they suffered a heavy 5-1 defeat in Ukraine yesterday to finish bottom of the Group.

Vying with Sweden and Slovenia for at least second place in qualifying Group 2 Oleg Pushanko knew victory was imperative for his Ukraine side and they duly obliged with Serhiy Rybalka's hat-trick supplemented by further goals from Dmytro Korkishko and Dmytro Grechyshko.

It could have been an altogether different story, though, had Malta built on the 21st-minute lead given to them by Terence Vella, who slipped past two defenders and fired in from 25 metres with the aid of a deflection off team-mate Ryan Camenzuli. However, Malta were in front for only six minutes before Rybalka chested down from a corner and fired past Steve Sultana.

Rybalka was close to putting his side in front before the interval but it mattered not, with his low shot three minutes into the second half giving the hosts the advantage. Korkishko's neat turn and high finish made it 3-1 soon after and Rybalka completed his hat-trick just before the hour with another fine effort.

Grechyshkincompleted the route to ensure Ukraine head into their final qualifier, against Sweden in Kalmar on Monday, in high spirits.

Other results:

Slovenia-Sweden 2-1; Georgia-Estonia 2-1;

Switzerland-Spain 0-0; Russia-Poland 4-1; Moldova-Albania 2-1; Hungary-Ireland 2-1; Italy-Liechtenstein 7-0; Azerbaijan-England 0-2; Belgium-Norway 1-3; Latvia-Kazakhstan 1-1; Scotland-Luxembourg 3-0