Grech’s debut goal not enough for Malta futsal team

International Futsal Friendly – 26/10/2018 MALTA         1 N. IRELAND 2(HT 0-1) The Malta futsal team suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat to Northern Ireland on Friday in the first of two friendly matches at the National School of Sport in Pembroke. Led by Dutch coach Vic Hermans, the Maltese team didn’t deserve to lose this match, played in front of a sizeable crowd, as they were the better side for long stretches but ultimately paid the price for their failure to translate possession into goals. After Northern Ireland had taken an eighth-minute lead thanks to captain Adam Barr, the Maltese team made a strong reaction but Lee Grech, making his senior futsal debut for Malta, was denied by goalkeeper Matthew McErlain. The hosts continued to push for an equaliser with Carl Azzopardi coming one-on-one with the McErlain but the latter came out on top. Malta’s efforts were rewarded nine minutes into the second half when a good interchange between Azzopardi and Grech ended with the latter stroking the ball into the net from close range for his first goal in a Malta shirt. The red-shirted players continued to dominate but suffered a setback when Craig Taylor’s strong drive had the better of Stephen Vella with five minutes remaining. Two-one down, Malta deployed the flying keeper tactic virtually every time they had the ball as they pressed for an equaliser but could not find a way past the Irish team. The second friendly will be played this evening (Saturday) at the National School of Sport, starting at 18.30. MALTAStephen Vella, Mark Zammit, Carl Azzopardi, Lee Grech, Rennie Tanti.Substitutes: Clint Mifsud, Melvin Borg, Aidan Micallef, Dylan Musu, Giancarlo Sammut, Andre Ciancio, Matthew Attard, Andy Mangion, Kurt Bartolo. Coach: Vic Hermans NORTHERN IRELANDMatthew McErlain, Adam Barr, Alex Lalor, Danny Stapleton, Conor Glenholmes.Substitutes: Philip Irvine, Scott Gunn, Ciaran Donaghy, John Gibson, Craig Taylor, Jack Magee, Jordan Wilson, Jonathan Pierce, Darius Roohl. Coach: Jonny Michael Referee 1: Omar Rafiq (Norway)Referee 2: Igor Puzovic (Bosnia)Referee 3: David Balzan (Malta).