Serbia claimed a dominant 52-12 victory over Malta to win Group B of the European Championship in Belgrade.
Both teams traded tries in the opening half, Serbia leading 14-6 at halftime.
While Malta showed plenty of fight in the opening 50 minutes, the visitors’ discipline, however, faltered in the second half, with sin bins to Kyle Gauci and Mark Robertson compounding their difficulties as Serbia capitalised with a flurry of points in the back end of the match.
For Malta, Josh Gatt, who plies his trade with the undefeated Avignon in the French Super 13, was a standout performer. Gatt’s work rate and determination provided some bright moments for the Maltese side despite the heavy scoreline.
Ultimately, Serbia’s fitness combined with Malta’s ill-discipline helped Serbia secure a convincing win that sees Serbia go undefeated in group B with consecutive wins over the Dutch and Maltese.
Malta, although well-beaten, can take heart from a spirited first-half display and the efforts of its key players under pressure.
Josh Gatt said after the match, “It was a big fifty to sixty minutes and I’m proud of the effort. Twenty minutes of ill-discipline at the end let the game get away from us”.
“As a group, after two losses, we now know where the standard is at to compete at this level. The positives are that we have the ingredients with the right tweaks to make it work in this division”.
Malta coach Philip Humphrey added, “Two weeks ago, there were a lot of questions about heart and team spirit. Today, there was no questions about any of that”.
“From minute go and until the end, we got everything we asked for. The game result itself went to the better conditioned team”.
Humphrey handed Malta national team debuts were handed to Kyle Micallef and Ethan Xuereb, but providing the most hope throughout – were the likes of Josh Gatt and the Jewitt brothers Alfie and Harrison.
Alfie Jewitt took an intercept and ran 60 metres to score for Malta.
Later on, Malta prop Josh Cassar was put through a hole by captain Kaine Dimech for another four-pointer. Kyle Gauci added the extras on both occasions.