Hungary 22Malta 5
(6-3, 8-0, 3-2, 5-0)
Malta found the going tough in their opening match of the U-19 European Championships as they lost to Hungary 22-5 in Alphen, the Netherlands, yesterday.
The Hungarians were the stronger side on the day as they all but assured themselves of victory by the end of the second quarter and from then on they administered proceedings without difficult.
Hungary raced into a 4-0 lead but Malta fought back as goals from Joseph Galea, Nicholas Bugelli and Jeremy Abela saw them cut the deficit to just one goal.
But the eastern European side regained the initiative after that, netting 10 times without reply to surge into a 14-3 lead by the half-time break.
Malta created other scoring opportunities but were caught out on fast breaks by their opponents before half-time.
In the third session Anthony Farrugia’s players showed signs of improvement with Ben Plumpton hitting a double.
But the Hungarians stamped their authority on the match by scoring five times without reply in the final quarter to wrap up a comfortable victory.
“We played against one of the strongest teams here,” coach Farrugia said.
“We have to learn from the mistakes committed today and...
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Strong Hungarians beat Malta in group opener
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Malta succumb to second defeat against Montenegro
Malta 6Montenegro 19(2-3, 1-8, 3-4, 0-4)
A dismal second-session performance again proved fatal for Malta as they went down 19-6 to the strong Montenegro team in their second Group D game at the European U-19 Championships, being played in the Dutch city of Alphen aan den Rijn.
Having opened their commitments with a heavy 22-5 defeat to Hungary on Sunday, the Maltese boys faced another massive task yesterday.
They started the early-morning encounter on a good note as Nicholas Bugelli and Ben Plumpton were on target in a close first session which ended with Montenegro leading 3-2.
The second quarter was a different story altogether as the Montenegrin players upped the tempo, producing an eight-goal blitz to all but seal their win.
Miguel Zammit got Malta’s only goal.
With the game as good as over, the third session was more balanced with Plumpton, Joseph Galea and Jeremy Abela finding the net for Malta but Montenegro prevailed 4-3.
Montenegro scored four times without reply in the final session to increase their winning margin.
Anthony Farrugia, the Malta U-19 coach, said: “Today’s performance was better than yesterday (Sunday), even though the team had to wake up at 5.30am and...
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Self-belief Neptunes’ X-factor as they are crowned kings
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Malta settle for 14th place after 11-8 loss to Turkey
Malta 8Turkey 11
(4-3, 1-4, 1-4, 2-0)
The Maltese youth team had to settle for 14th place in the Under-19 European Championship after going down 11-8 to Turkey in a ranking match from the lower half of the ladder, played in The Netherlands yesterday.
Anthony Farrugia’s team did well to win the first and last sessions but Turkey showed their true mettle in the middle quarters, paving the way for their victory which meant a 13th placing in the final rankings of the tournament.
Ben Plumpton scored the first of his three goals just before the buzzer signalled the end of the first quarter for Malta to take a 4-3 lead.
However, that was the last time they led for the rest of the match as Turkey took over to dictate proceedings before staving off Malta’s comeback bid late on.
Turkey won the second quarter 4-1 and repeated the same partial score after the interval to open an 11-6 advantage which they preserved till the end despite Malta’s bold rally to save the match.
In the end, they only managed to score twice, through Nicholas Bugelli and Jeremy Abela (three goals in all yesterday), to fall short of their objective but making the final scoreline look more respectable.
Malta’s other...
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Malta beat Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan 5Malta 9
(0-2, 2-2, 1-0, 2-5)
Malta U-19 reserved their best for the last session yesterday as they beat Azerbaijan 9-5 in a classification match (13-16 places) from the U-19 European Championship, currently being played in the Netherlands.
Anthony Farrugia’s team opened a 3-0 lead early on only for the Azeris to score twice before half-time and then get the only goal in the third session to cut the leeway to 4-3 before the last quarter got underway.
But, the Maltese side produced a strong finale, with Jacob Sciberras, Ben Plumpton and Nicholas Bugelli scoring in quick succession to dash Azerbaijan’s hopes.
Scorers: Bugelli 3, Abela 2, Plumpton 2, Sciberras 1, Galea 1.
ASA president Joe Caruana Curran was satisfied with the victory, the first in the tournament, but urged the team to stay grounded.
“The strides we have made and the evident progress show that we are moving in the right direction,” he said.
“But, let us not believe for a minute that, having beaten Azerbaijan, is the point of arrival or where our ambitions stop. The next game will be the next challenge we want to overcome.
“These matches will continue to lay the strongest possible foundations for the...
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Camilleri commits to Neptunes
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Valletta (Malta) to play in Champions League
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Positive start for Valletta
An experimental Valletta team, shorn of several thoroughbreds, were off to a positive start when defeating an otherwise none too convincing KS Arkonia, of Poland, 12-2 to make it a positive start in the qualification Round Group D of the 2016-2017 LEN Champions League, yesterday.
From the word go it was obvious that the Poles were not up to it even allowing for the Maltese side’s initial wastefulness, especially on extra-man set-pieces.
Coach Karl Izzo rotated his units diligently throughout the four sessions and his boys all responded well, with spectacular goals coming from nap-hand scorer Matthew Zammit and Jeremy Abela, who netted twice, as did Michael Spiteri Staines.
The other goals came from Zach Mizzi, Miguel and Darren Zammit.
After a low-scoring first session, Valletta upped their striking tempo to make it 5-1 midway through.
By then it was all over as the Polish players had no clue how to unlock the Maltese team’s rearguard who had the steady Nicholas Grixti in goal.
With Valletta 7-1 ahead into the last session more fringe players were introduced including goalkeeper Jake Tanti.
It had long been a stroll for the superior Maltese representative team. However, much...
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Valletta start against KS Arkonia
The opening matches from the LEN Champions League Group C qualifying round will be played at the National Pool this evening with Maltese representative team – Valletta – in competition.
The four-team mini-tournament, which comes to a close on Sunday morning, will also include Poland’s KS Arkonia Szczecin, Steaua Bucharest, of Romania, and Montenegro side PVK Jadran Herceg Novi.
With a few regulars unavailable for selection, national coach Karl Izzo has opted to introduce a few new faces in his selection as Valletta start their commitments with a match against KS Arkonia Szczecin today.
Tomorrow, Valletta play Steaua and they wrap up their group matches with a clash against PVK Jadran.
Playing today
18.00 PVK Jadran Herceg Novi vs Steaua Bucharest; 19.15 KS Arkonia Szczecin vs Valletta.
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Superior VK Jadran ease past Valletta
That VK Jadran Herceg Novi would see off Valletta even more easily than Steaua Bucharest did on Saturday was well on the cards.
What was not foreseen was the emphatic way the potent Montenegro champions would dispose of the Maltese side as they stormed to a mammoth 25-1 victory.
So huge was the chasm between the two sides that the chores of Jadran’s coach, Vlado Gojkovic, were limited to effecting substitutions rather than giving technical instructions to his units.
To make matters worse for the Maltese players, coach Karl Izzo was unable to make use of top-scorer Matthew Zammit and the talented Miguel Zammit, who were both nursing injuries.
Nevertheless, there was no stopping the visitors’ ruthless scoring machine, with nine of their 11 outfield players figuring on the scoring list.
The only ponderable for the host team was whether they would break their scoring duck. That ‘distinction’ fell to Edward Aquilina who netted in the third session.
Of consolation to Izzo and his coaching clan is the fact that, in this tournament, some promising talent has been unearthed or confirmed, particularly in Miguel Zammit, Jeremy Abela and captain Nicholas Bugelli who, together with...
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Camilleri scoops Player of the Year Award
Steve Camilleri has been voted the 2016 Player of the Year, an honour which continues to embellish the numerous individual awards bestowed on the Neptunes player.
This is a record sixth time Camilleri has been voted player of the year. He already has the 2007, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015 honours in his baggage.
This summer he also headed the Premier Division scorers’ list with 45 goals.
Besides being top scorer in Malta every year since 2008, the 29-year-old Camilleri was the top goal-getter in the Euro Waterpolo Championship in Belgrade earlier this year with 21 goals.
At the moment he is preparing for the 2016-2017 Italian Serie A1 season with Sicilian club CC Ortigia, for whom he has re-signed, making it the ninth consecutive year he has been playing in a top overseas league, very often finishing as his club’s top scorer.
Last month, Camilleri renewed his contract with Neptunes for four years.
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Milakovic to head Sirens ASC nursery
Sirens ASC yesterday announced the appointment of Dejan Mila-kovic as the club’s waterpolo nursery head coach.
The Serbian will be responsible for the junior teams within the ambit of a strategic plan that is expected to ensure a technically solid, sustainable and successful future for the club, Sirens said in a statement.
Milakovic will be taking over the training programmes at the nursery following consultations with Sergio Afric, the new coach for the senior side.
A graduate of the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education from the University of Belgrade, Milakovic has been involved in the sport for many years, with a high-level career both as player and coach.
During his playing days he turned up for Partizan, Beograd and Red Star as well as the Yugoslav national team.
Last season, Milakovic was coach for Premier Division club Sliema ASC. Before he had a stint with Pro Recco as an assistant coach as the Italian team won the domestic cup and league and the Champions League in 2015.
“Our club is renowned for its youth talent and with Milakovic’s contribution as head of the youth nursery we look forward to enhance even further our leadership in the various junior levels,” Sirens...
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Malta U-17 face Italy in Waterpolo Euros opener
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Malta U-17 waterpolo team clinch historic win over Turkey
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Malta U-17’s late fightback comes up just short against Russia
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Malta U-17s undone by late Georgia flurry in Euros
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Serbia too strong for Malta U-17 at Euros
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Sharp-shooting Dutch outlast Malta youngsters at Euros
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San Ġiljan, Sirens book place in semi-finals
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PA's Development Planning Fund raises €32 million for community projects
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