Greece 22 - Malta 24

Terry Liberopoulos reports from Fairfax Community Stadium

WAKEFIELD Trinity prop-forward Michael Korkidas led Greece magnificently in the international match played in Sydney's Fairfax Community Stadium but it was Malta that snatched victory with a try just 30 seconds from full-time to win 24-22.

The Greeks, plagued by injuries, came from 16-0 down at the break to take the lead 22-20 with 17 minutes remaining. It looked like they would hang on for an emotional win but Newcastle Knights Premier League player Daniel Spiteri showed his class by stepping inside a couple of defenders before racing over to score in the corner.

While Spiteri was the star for the Malta Knights, Korkidas was the stand-out performer on the field and showed his class by playing the full 80 minutes. His hit-ups and defense caused havoc for Malta who decided to play the game on the edge of the fringes. “Captaining Greece tonight was one of the highlights of my life. I only met the guys a few days ago but they're a great bunch of blokes. We have a good thing going and everybody is looking forward to playing in Greece next year” said Korkidas.

While Malta had no changes to the 17-man squad announced a couple of weeks ago, Greece lost the services of George Gatis, Willie Peters, Jason Demetriou, Andrew Georgiadis, Michael Yatras, Jude Wheeler and Mark Mundine through injury or personal issues. Wakefield captain Jason Demetriou attended the game and spent time in the Greek dressing room. A shoulder operation kept him out of the game but he has indicated that he would love to pull on the Greek jersey. “The talk is that Greece will be heading to Athens next year and that will be something that I will be looking forward to. I would love to have played today” said Demetriou.

The Greeks came out firing in the second half with tries from Ray Mavroudis, York Antoniou and David Georgiou bring the scoreline to 16-all. Georgiou was flown down from Brisbane the day before while winger Peter Vardis was pulled out of his father's fish and chips shop 24 hours before the game. Malta winger Simon Micallef, who plays for the Parramatta Jersey Flegg side, registered his third try of the game when he scored in the 59th minute after the Knights spread the ball wide again. Adam Fletcher levelled the scores at 20-all when he crossed in the 63rd minute and Stuart Philpott added the extras to put Greece ahead for the first time in the game. But it was left to Spiteri to shatter the dreams of the Greeks.

Malta 24 (Simon Micallef 3, Daniel Spiteri, Willie Grech tries; Ben Sammut 2 goals)

defeated

Greece 22 (Ray Mavroudis, York Antoniou, David Georgiou, Adam Flecher tries; Stuart Philpott 3 goals)

Fairfax Community Stadium.

Referee: Jeff Younis.

Crowd: 2500.