Italy were the big winners on day four of the women’s European U18 Championships in Malta. After building an 8-5 lead at half-time against the Netherlands, they maintained their advantage in the second half to claim the three points and replace Hungary at the top of Group A. Elsewhere, the leading two teams in Group B, Spain and Greece, both enjoyed a scoring spree in their final preliminary game.
Group A: Italy sink the Netherlands to leapfrog Hungary at top
Hungary came back strong after their shootout loss to Italy by beating Türkiye with a commanding performance. The Turks may have showed glimpses of why it’s not easy to take them down, but the Magyars stayed focused and disciplined to score 17 goals, and to limit their opponents to five hits (in contrast, Italy conceded 13 on the opening day).
Hungary’s almost flawless defending was the key, and their counters made the difference up front. After landing the three points, the pressure was on Italy to bag a win against the Netherlands in the late evening game to finish first.
Margherita Minuto kicked off the party with a 6m blast, but then it took five more minutes to score again. Till then the Dutch managed to put away an extra and Kiara Heerink also found the back of the net from the perimeter.
Then came some more Minuto brilliance, as in less than a minute, she lifted her team with a goal from the centre and then with a blast from the outside.
The Dutch were frozen and just 25 seconds later, Malika Bovo buried a penalty, while Heerink hit the post from the 5m line. Nausicaa Magaglio then scored from the centre for the Italians’ fourth – it was a 1:41 blast from the favourites, which left a lasting impact.
The Netherlands managed to pull one back, but they were finding it more and more difficult to cope with the fast-paced game of the Italians.
It was only a matter of time before the gap started growing again. A fierce shot from Emma Bacele, then an easy finish from Magaglio expanded Italy’s lead to 7-3.
The Dutch fought hard, netting a man-up, but Letizia Scibona then expertly saved their second penalty. That could have halved the gap, instead, after two minutes of hard defensive battling, Martina Abrizi put away an extra to reset the four-goal difference.
Heerink pulled one back again from a six on five, 47 seconds before the middle break, but Italy still seemed to be sitting in the driving seat with an 8-5 lead.
A key moment arrived early in the third, when the Dutch were unable to feed the ball to the 2m and the Italians forced a penalty at the other end, which Lara Bianco buried for 9-5.
The Dutch went on missing their extras, two more in succession, and they survived the first counter thanks to a save, but not the next one when Agnese Bianchi rushed through to score for 10-5.
A lucky rebound and a second attempt helped the Dutch recovery, as in 19 seconds they added another goal after a turnover foul. Later, they killed two woman-downs, but they couldn’t come closer as the Italian defence stood tall to keep the 10-7 advantage before the final quarter.
The Dutch netted a six on five at the start of the fourth, but Malika Bovo then stepped up and her blistering shot reset their three-goal lead just 14 seconds later, and a bad pass let the Italians go for a ‘re-counter’ which gave them a 12-8 lead.
There might have been six minutes still to play, but a Netherlands’ comeback was not really on the cards, especially a minute later when Bovo sent the ball home from a penalty. Still, the Dutch staged a late surge, netting three extras in a row and with 3:30 to go, they were back at 13-11.
They even had the chance to cut the gap to one, but the buzzer killed their (too) late centre-shot and Sara Sabbadin’s perimeter shot killed their momentum with 2:06 to go and sealed Italy’s top rank and their spot in the quarters.
Group B: Spain and Greece hit 20+ goals, as both advance to the quarters
After the big match yesterday, Spain and Greece each had one remaining task to tick – landing three more points against the group underdogs. As expected, the favourites delivered in both matches.
The Spanish produced another flawless performance with great defending, speedy transitions and fierce finishes, at the expense of Croatia. They netted six goals in each of the first three periods and added seven more in the fourth to score one more than they did against Israel, stopping at 25 this time.
The Greeks bounced back from their defeat to Spain on Tuesday and looked fresh and determined against Israel. This was mirrored by the scoreboard, as they led 12-2 at half-time and even though they didn’t maintain their speed and precision in the second half, they also passed the 20-goal barrier and secured their quarter-final spot.
Group C: Germany and Serbia win to seal top two spots
Serbia pushed hard in the first two periods against Ireland, winning both 6-1, to make sure they reached the crossovers after taking maximum points in the group phase. The Serbs switched gears for the second half, to reserve as much power as possible for their following task, a really tough encounter against Türkiye.
Malta and Germany had another showdown to claim the second qualifying spot. Another, as just two weeks ago these two nations met twice in the boys’ U18 European Championships where Malta upset the Germans twice, first in the group stage, then in the match for the 9th place, winning both matches after a shootout.
Some experts may have thought Malta barely had a chance this time, but the players had other ideas and, at least in the first half, they managed to force an even match.
The Germans may have taken a 1-3 lead inside four minutes, but just when they perhaps thought it was going to be an easy ride, the hosts hit back with three brilliant shots from the perimeter in a mere 80 seconds. Still, captain Mara Dzaja kept her calm and equalised 17 seconds from time to make it 4-4.
Dzaja added another strike from the centre to retake the lead, but the hosts were holding on, as Ella Miceli buried a penalty, and after a German goal from extra, Chloe Amato blasted another brilliant one from distance for 6-6.
The fans were in an upbeat mood, but few would have thought this was going to be their team’s last goal for a while. At half-time, Malta were still in contention, despite a buried penalty by Dzaja, as the last three minutes didn’t see any more goals, so at half-time it stood 6-7.
In the third quarter, the Germans’ superiority started to show. They were just stronger and faster, while the Maltese ran out of steam. First of all, their shots lacked the same precision as in the opening 16 minutes – and more importantly, the German finishes were more clinical and their defence was also much tighter.
The Germans enjoyed a 0-5 spell in the third, which ultimately put an end to the contest. Dzaja and Lucy Schussler led the charge, netting five and four goals respectively before the fourth period even began.
A seventh straight goal soon arrived (it was 6-6 in the second, now 6-13), before Holly Camilleri managed to halt the home sides’ scoreless run after 13:33 minutes.
The fans applauded that, and the Maltese offence started to click once more, but the Germans were now in control and forced a couple of penalties to keep the safe distance. The win sent them through, while the hosts will play for the 13-16th places.
Group D: Slovakia down the Czechs to advance alongside Great Britain
Great Britain enjoyed another comprehensive win, this time against Switzerland. The Brits have really stood out in the lower division, as their closest match so far was a 10-goal win against Romania – this time they had another easy cruise as they brought down the Swiss 23-4.
Sharpshooter Amelie Perkins settled for seven goals, and her 41 strikes so far might be enough to finish as the tournament’s top scorer even if she doesn’t net any more in Malta.
The next game will be the first real test for Great Britain – a crossover match against Israel.
The big game of the day in this group was the clash of the neighbours, Czechia and Slovakia, where the second qualifying spot for the crossovers was at stake.
Once belonging to the same country, the teams produced a fierce battle where the Slovaks took control in the second period.
Being 2-3 down after the first, they staged a 4-0 run, and that was crucial. The Czechs climbed back to 7-6, but that burnt most of their energy reserves.
They were still close at 9-7, as the fourth commenced, but two fast action goals from the Slovaks in 47 seconds left no way back for the Czechs.
They pulled one back, but two more hits, this time in 32 seconds for 13-8, practically ended the contest. Katarina Balazsova was on fire, she hit five in the game to help send Slovakia to the crossovers.
Romania bagged their second regular time win too, beating Bulgaria with ease.
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Women’s U18 Europeans, Malta
Results, Day 4
Wednesday 3 September
Group A
Hungary v Türkiye 17-5
Italy v Netherlands 14-11
Final rankings: 1. Italy 8, 2. Hungary 7, 3. Netherlands 3, 4. Türkiye 0
Group B
Spain v Croatia 25-8
Greece v Israel 22-6
Final rankings: 1. Spain 9, 2. Greece 6, 3. Croatia 3, 4. Israel 0
Group C
Serbia v Ireland 18-7
Malta v Germany 10-16
Final rankings: 1. Serbia 12, 2. Germany 9, 3. Malta 6, 4. Ukraine 3, 5. Ireland 0
Group D
Switzerland v Great Britain 4-23
Slovakia v Czechia 14-10
Romania v Bulgaria 13-6
Final rankings: 1. Great Britain 15, 2. Slovakia 10, 3. Czechia 9, 4. Romania 8, 5. Switzerland 3, 6. Bulgaria 0
Crossover fixtures for Day 5
Thursday 4 September
16.00 Türkiye v Serbia
17.30 Netherlands v Germany
19.00 Israel v Great Britain
20.30 Croatia v Slovakia
Quarter-finals on Day 6
Friday 5 September
16.30 Spain v TUR/SRB
18.00 Greece v NED/GER
19.30 Italy v ISR/GBR
21.00 Hungary v CRO/SVK
Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics
