MALTA 12
MONTENEGRO 21
(5-6, 0-5, 4-5, 3-5)
The Malta waterpolo national team opened their commitments in the European Championship finals when they were beaten by Montenegro 21-12 in Belgrade.
It was an inconsistent performance from Milan Cirovic’s men who were impressive in the first and third sessions, but a poor showing in the second quarter cost them the match as the Montenegrin were clinical to pull away.
Although it was always unrealistic to hope that Malta could shock waterpolo giants Montenegro, however, coach Cirovic will surely be a bit disappointed with how the team collapsed in the second session.
However, one positive note from the match was the fighting spirit shown by the Maltese players who kept fighting in the last two sessions to try and bridge the gap.
That fighting spirit is crucial to stay in the team for their next encounter against France tomorrow as it represents our best hope of clinching the team’s first win in the group and would assure them of a place in the knock-out places, and an historic top 12 placing.
Stevie Camilleri was Malta’s leading scorer with four goals, one more than Matthew Zammit with the other goals coming from Alec Fenech, Nikolai ZammitJake Muscat, Jayden Cutajar and Ivan Nagaev.
Montenegro made their intentions clear right from the outset as they race into a three-goal lead inside the first three minutes.
Goals from Aljosa Macic, Danilo Stupar and Dmitri Kholod put the Montenegrin outfit in charge with the Maltese still finding their feet.
But slowly, Milan Cirovic’s team started to settle down and Matthew Zammit pulled a goal back before Dusan Matkovic restored Montenegro’s three goal lead.
However, the Maltese kept fighting and two-quick fire goals from Jayden Cutajar and Ivan Nagaev, his first in competitive competition, put the Maltese just one goal behind – 5-4.
Jovan Vujovic put Montenegro two goals ahead but Nikolai Zammit struck to leave Malta just a goal behind at the end of the first session – 6-5.
Malta had a golden chance to equalise at the start of the second session but Stevie Camilleri saw his shot from the six-metre mark finish over.
That turned out to be a costly miss as Montenegro stepped up a gear as they scored four goals without reply through Marko Mrsic, Strahinja Gojkovic (2) and Jovan Vujovic to go 9-5 ahead.
The Maltese were struggling to find their scoring touch, missing two extra-man sets, and Montenegro added two more goals to go into the interval 11-5 ahead
In the third session, Malta rediscovered their scoring touch with Stevie Camilleri hitting a brace along with further goals from Jake Muscat and Matthew Zammit as they headed into the final session 16-9 ahead.
In the final session, Montenegro again showed all their prowess as they scored four times with Malta responding through a solitary Matthew Zammit goal.
Goals from Jake Muscat and Matthew Zammit were sandwiched by a Strahinja Gojkovic strike as the Montenegrin eased home.