MALTA...................................... 14 UKRAINE.................................... 7 (2‑1), (3‑0), (5‑3), (4‑3)

A positive start for Malta as they edge one step closer to se‐ curing a place in the final phase of the European Championship. This win was vital as on paper Malta was expected to win this game, considering also today’s important encounter against Germany.

This time, only the winner of each of the four qualifying groups secure a place automati‐ cally in the European Champi‐ onship while only the best three placed nations who finish second will qualify. Therefore it was im‐ portant not only to win but to win by the biggest margin possi‐ ble.

The final result might seem as positive but in reality a better performance might have re‐ sulted in a bigger win, a senti‐ ment that was expressed by na‐ tional team coach Milan Cirovic during the match.

Despite being in control, Malta failed to impose their superiority on Ukraine in the first session. Jake Muscat’s opener was can‐ celled by a goal from Denis Gusakov. Ben Plumpton put Malta again in the lead from penalty but till the end of the ses‐ sion, they didn’t test that much Kostiantyn Nikolskyi in front of goal.

Milan Cirovic’s team needed a spark to be more comfortable. Nikolai Zammit provided a cush‐ ion with a brace of his own to give Malta a 4‐1 lead. Ukraine even missed a penalty while Jake Tanti saved all the shots that came in his goal. On the other hand, Malta still lacked precision in attack.

Malta secured the win in the third session after a bright start with three consecutive goals in less than two minutes. Jake Mus‐ cat and a brace by Ben Plumpton stretched the lead to 8‐1.

Jayden Cutajar and Benji Cachia continued the splendid evening with another two goals, but the comfortable advantage resulted in Maltese players entering in relax mode. Ukraine took the op‐ portunity to score three consec‐ utive goals to reduce the margin to six goals.

Although still leading, Malta didn’t show the superiority in the last session. Jake Tanti shined in goal as he denied sev‐ eral attempts by Ukraine. Cirovic surely wasn’t happy with the performance in the last session and a half and it might be an eye‐ opener for the games to come.

Malta: J. Tanti, J. Gabarretta (1), L. Galea (1), J. Gambin, J. Cutajar (2), B. Plumpton (3), J. Muscat (3), B. Cachia (2), J. Abela, N. Za‐ mmit (2), A. Fenech, N. Bugelli, N. Grixti

Ukraine: K. Nikolskyi, M. Osyka, V. Voitenko (1), D. Ashanin, O. Diadiura (1), R. Gryshchuk, O. Dzhura (1), Y. Mametyev (1), D. Gusakov (1), K. Alieksieiev (2), D. Sokolov, I. Kechedzhy, M. Khytryi

Referees: Erwin Schapers (Netherlands), Luis Santos (Por‐ tugal)