Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/501315
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 26 APRIL 2015 37 Sport TRIATHLON RUGBY Brave Malta lose to Switzerland MALTA suffered their second de- feat in Division 2A when they lost to Switzerland 23-20 at the Hibs Stadium A few moments after the whis- tle had gone, Malta regaled Swit- zerland with the first three points when they conceded a penalty and Sebastian Dimitri converted. The Swiss fly-half struck again four minutes later when he scored with a drop goal a few metres out to put the visitors 6-0 up. The Maltese were all over the place and the Swiss continued to pile the points when they gained possession from a scrum and Thibault Gery sped through the goalline to grab the first try of the match. Dimitri made no mistake from the conver- sion to surge 13-0 ahead. The home side seemed to have no answers to the Swiss power and a surging driving maul from the visi- tors set up Brice Monzeglio for the try – 18-0. Malta finally struck on 24 minutes when following a protractive move Rhodri Apsee powered through for Malta's first try. O'Brien scored the conversion to bridge the gap to 18-7. That added more impetus to Mal- ta's play and an O'Brien penalty just before half-time further reduced the gap to 18-10. The Swiss started the second half brightly and good kicking by Dim- itri set up Ghislain Montiel to grab the visitors third try and move 23- 10 ahead. But Malta replied back with skip- per Dominic Busuttil powering underneath the posts for a fine try. O'Brien scored the conversion to make it 23-17. James Morris set up a tense finale when scoring a penalty goal to put Malta just three points behind 23- 20. In the end despite Malta's brave efforts to salvage something out of the game, the Swiss managed to hold on for the win and condemn the Maltese to their second defeat in the group. YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt Podium finish for Triathlete Fabio Spiteri in Sicily AGONES SFC and National Team Triathlete Fabio Spiteri contin- ued to update his race CV with another podium placing in the recently held TrapaniMan Triath- lon, which took place in San Vito Lo Capo, Sicily. TrapaniMan Triathlon hosted a total of 160 athletes who raced in the Middle Distance Catego- ry consisting of a 1.9km swim, a 90km cycle and a 21km run. With conditions being far from perfect, Spiteri exited the swim in fifteenth place, and although throughout the cycle route he had to contend with strong winds, a particularly hilly route and tria- thletes racing as pros, Spiteri fin- ished the race in 4 hours, 25 min- utes 16 seconds, the sixth male to cross the finish line and snapping up a podium placing for his 3rd placing in the Over 40 age group. Winning this age group, and the overall race was Massimo Ciga- na, a professional triathlete hail- ing from a cycling background having competed regularly in the Giro D'Italia. "Whilst every race I compete in is important, this race was par- ticularly special for me. It is not every day that one gets to race against and stand on a podium with an athlete of the likes of Cigana, who was also a team mate of the late cycling great, Marco Pantani.' said Spiteri. "I am also proud of the Maltese delegation, who all showed strong perform- ances, particularly in the female sprint section, where the podium was taken up by three Maltese fe- males". Spiteri's start to the 2015 has been positive, with a third placing in the heavily contested Masters Category in the Cycling Tour of Malta. Spiteri has a busy race calendar planned for 2015, with commit- ments revolving around races within these distances. This will enable Spiteri to focus on improv- ing his speed rather than endur- ance at this point in time. His first commitment is the locally organised Garmin Malta 113k Triathlon and Long Distance National Championships in May, followed by races in Poznan, Po- land in July, Budapest, Hungary in August and Cyprus in Octo- ber. Spiteri is also a member of the Malta National Triathlon Team and will be representing Malta in the forthcoming European Cham- pionships to be held in Geneve, Switzerland in July. Fabio Spiteri's participation in the TrapaniMan was made possible through the support of Garmin (represented in Malta by Medcomms Ltd), Mochika and Wheel Wizard. Podium places in respective Age Groups were achieved by Joseph Cremona (1st) and Mario Mus- cat, and Jude Zammit (3rd). Also present for the TrapaniMan race were Graham Borg, David Galea, Adrian Cuschieri, Antoine Pace, Gejtu Catania, Nathan Farrugia and Sandro Sciberras who all per- formed well in their respective categories. In the Sprint Catego- ry, Hannah Pace, Danica Bonello Spiteri and Margaret Seguna took first second and third place re- spectively. David Agius Lia and Stephanie Alden competed in a Relay taking second place in the process. Agones SFC Triathlete Fabio Spiteri crossing the finish line to overall 6th place and 3rd place in Age Group at the TrapaniMan 113Km triathlon, San Vito lo Capo, Sicily. Photo by Pietro Rallo