50th International match for the Cyprus Moufflons ends in VICTORY !
MALTA 16
CYPRUS 18
A last-gasp try from Georgios Agathokleus condemned Malta to a heart-breaking defeat to Cyprus in a Conference South One match at the Hibs Stadium.
It looked as though that Malta had done enough to rally from a 13-5 first-half deficit when two penalty conversions from Chris Dudman had given them a 16-13 lead with only ten minutes left.
However, the lively Cypriots kept fighting till the end and managed to surprise the Malta rearguard with a lightning counter attack which was brilliantly concluded by Agathokleus to hand his team their first win in the group.
Cyprus took little time to settle down as they immediately started to move the ball sideways with the Maltese forced to concede a penalty. Marcus Holden kicked the ball between the posts to put the visitors 3-0 ahead.
Malta’s response was instant as straight from kick off they barged into the Cypriot half. They managed to force a line-out two metres out and from it Harry Collins dinked his way past his marker to touch the ball home. Dudman missed the conversion to leave Malta 5-3 ahead.
The Cypriots were proving a handful in this first part of the match with the Maltese using all their experience and resilience to deny their opponents from scoring the first try of the match.
A handling mistake from Richard Gum paved the way for Cyprus to break through the Malta defence with Dom Georgiou scoring underneath the posts and Holden scoring the conversion to put Cyprus 10-5 ahead.
More woes followed for Malta as an infringement at half pitch handed a penalty to Cyprus with Holden again finding the posts to extend his team’s lead to 13-3.
The Maltese players kept their calm and Gum made amends for his earlier mistake when he whizzed his way past three players to touch home. Dudman again missed the conversion to leave Cyprus 13-10 ahead at the interval.
After the break, Malta tried to put themselves back into the game and they managed to restore parity when Dudman converted a penalty from half pitch – 13-13.
It was anyone’s game now with both sides giving everything to pick up valuable points that would put them in the driving seat.
Midway through the second half Malta won a penalty and Dudman made no mistake to give the home side a precious three-point lead – 16-13.
Dudman could have further extended Malta’s lead from another penalty but this time he missed the target to leave the match wide open.
That proved costly as the Cypriots orchestrated a swift counter attack through Georgiou who set up Georgios Agathokleus to touch home and earn his team the win.
Malta: M. Stoker, D. Holliday, T. Galdes, B. Borg, M. Davey, D. Deguara, H. Collins 5, D. Apsee, T. Holloway, R. Holloway, R. Gum 5, D. Busuttil, C. Dudman 6, L. Matthews, J. O’Brien.
Subs used: G. Scicluna, M. Barbara, D. Cerketa.
Cyprus: G. Cosma, M. Zakakiotis, E. Faulder, S. Yarrow, B. Cosma, J. Goodwin, M. Mladenovich, C. Joannou, A. Pantechis, M. Holden 8, G. Agathokleous 5, D. Georgiou 5, C. Georgiou, V. Antoniou, S. Burns.
Subs used: P. Pouroullis.
Referee Ethan Glass (Switzerland).
Full International record
Since their first match in 2007, Cyprus have lost only 15 matches out of Fifty. They recorded their first win over Malta on the 23rd November by 18 to 16 to celebrate their 50th International, which now gives them a 70% winning ratio.
Cyprus are not a full member of the International Rugby Board, so none of their international matches count towards the IRB World Rankings.
| Date | Home | Score | Away | Venue | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 March 2007 | Cyprus  |
39 – 3 |  Greece |
Paphos | Friendly (First International) |
| 29 October 2007 | Cyprus |
29 – 0 |  Azerbaijan |
Paphos | 2006-08 ENC 3D |
| 31 October 2007 | Cyprus |
19 – 10 |  Monaco |
Nicosia | 2006-08 ENC 3D |
| 3 November 2007 | Cyprus |
38 – 8 |  Slovakia |
Paphos | 2006-08 ENC 3D |
| 6 September 2008 | Israel  |
23 – 14 | Cyprus |
Netanya | 2006-08 ENC 3C/3D Play-off |
| 29 November 2008 | Azerbaijan |
3 – 37 | Cyprus |
Baku | 2008-10 ENC 3D |
| 6 December 2008 | Cyprus |
24 – 3 | Monaco |
Episkopi | 2008-10 ENC 3D |
| 14 March 2009 | Cyprus |
33 – 7 | Slovakia |
Episkopi | 2008-10 ENC 3D |
| 21 March 2009 | Bosnia and Herzegovina  |
6 – 8 | Cyprus |
Zenica | 2008-10 ENC 3D |
| 14 November 2009 | Monaco |
5 – 44 | Cyprus |
Monaco | 2008-10 ENC 3D |
| 6 March 2010 | Cyprus |
59 – 0 | Azerbaijan |
Paphos | 2008-10 ENC 3D |
| 27 March 2010 | Cyprus |
15 – 0 | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Paphos | 2008-10 ENC 3D |
| 20 November 2010 | Greece |
13 – 33 | Cyprus |
Athens | 2010-12 ENC 2D |
| 12 March 2011 | Cyprus |
55 – 8 |  Bulgaria |
Paphos | 2010-12 ENC 2D |
| 26 March 2011 | Cyprus |
70 – 10 |  Finland |
Paphos | 2010-12 ENC 2D |
| 7 May 2011 | Luxembourg  |
0 – 50 | Cyprus |
Luxembourg | 2010-12 ENC 2D |
| 8 October 2011 | Cyprus |
48 – 7 | Luxembourg |
Paphos | 2010-12 ENC 2D |
| 28 April 2012 | Bulgaria |
3 – 94 | Cyprus |
Pernik | 2010-12 ENC 2D |
| 26 May 2012 | Cyprus |
72 – 5 | Greece |
Paphos | 2010-12 ENC 2D |
| 9 June 2012 | Finland |
5 – 52 | Cyprus |
Helsinki | 2010-12 ENC 2D |
| 17 November 2012 | Austria  |
20 – 54 | Cyprus |
Vienna | 2012-14 ENC 2C |
| 8 December 2012 | Cyprus |
49 – 8 |  Slovenia |
Paphos | 2012-14 ENC 2C |
| 16 March 2013 | Cyprus |
79 – 10 | Bulgaria |
Paphos | 2012-14 ENC 2C |
| 20 April 2013 | Hungary  |
15 – 16 | Cyprus |
Esztergom | 2012-14 ENC 2C |
| 9 November 2013 | Slovenia |
3 – 34 | Cyprus |
Ljubljana | 2012-14 ENC 2C (25th International) |
| 30 November 2013 | Cyprus |
22 – 8 | Austria |
Paphos | 2012-14 ENC 2C |
| 26 April 2014 | Bulgaria |
15 – 46 | Cyprus |
Sofia | 2012-14 ENC 2C |
| 17 May 2014 | Cyprus |
46 – 13 | Hungary |
Paphos | 2012-14 ENC 2C |
| 1 November 2014 | Cyprus |
30 – 10 |  Andorra |
Paphos | 2014-16 ENC 2B (World Record 24th Straight TEST Victory) |
| 15 November 2014 | Latvia  |
39 – 20 | Cyprus |
Riga | 2014-16 ENC 2B |
| 28 March 2015 | Hungary |
15 – 17 | Cyprus |
Szazhalombatta | 2014-16 ENC 2B |
| 2 May 2015 | Cyprus |
20 – 26 |  Lithuania |
Paphos | 2014-16 ENC 2B |
| 7 November 2015 | Cyprus |
3 – 31 | Latvia |
Paphos | 2014-16 ENC 2B |
| 28 November 2015 | Andorra |
22 – 13 | Cyprus |
Andorra la Vella | 2014-16 ENC 2B |
| 9 April 2016 | Cyprus |
15 – 3 | Hungary |
Paphos | 2014-16 ENC 2B |
| 23 April 2016 | Lithuania |
47 – 15 | Cyprus |
Vilnius | 2014-16 ENC 2B |
| 23 October 2016 | Malta  |
31 – 3 | Cyprus |
Paola | 2016-17 Conference 1 South |
| 12 November 2016 | Cyprus |
28 – 38 | Israel |
Paphos | 2016-17 Conference 1 South |
| 11 February 2017 | Andorra |
15 – 14 | Cyprus |
Andorra la Vella | 2016-17 Conference 1 South |
| 6 May 2017 | Cyprus |
27 – 29 |  Croatia |
Paphos | 2016-17 Conference 1 South |
| 11 November 2017 | Cyprus |
42 – 5 | Austria |
Paphos | 2017-18 Conference 2 South |
| 14 November 2017 | Slovakia |
6 – 38 | Cyprus |
Piestany | 2017-18 Conference 2 South |
| 24 March 2018 | Cyprus |
17 – 5 | Slovenia |
Paphos | 2017-18 Conference 2 South |
| 28 April 2018 | Serbia  |
35 – 17 | Cyprus |
Belgrade | 2017-18 Conference 2 South |
| 20 October 2018 | Croatia |
46 – 24 | Cyprus |
Split | 2018-19 Conference 1 South |
| 10 November 2018 | Cyprus |
22 – 34 | Israel |
Paphos | 2018-19 Conference 1 South |
| 23 March 2019 | Cyprus |
10 – 37 | Malta |
Paphos | 2018-19 Conference 1 South |
| 6 April 2019 | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
22 – 23 | Cyprus |
Zenica | 2018-19 Conference 1 South |
| 19 October 2019 | Cyprus |
20 – 25 | Croatia |
Paphos | 2018-19 Conference 1 South |
| 23 November 2019 | Malta |
16 – 18 | Cyprus |
Paola | 2018-19 Conference 1 South (50th International) |
Overall
| Against | Pld | W | L | D | Pts for |
Pts agst |
% Won |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bulgaria |
4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 274 | 36 | 100% |
| Hungary |
4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 94 | 46 | 100% |
| Austria |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 118 | 33 | 100% |
| Azerbaijan |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 125 | 3 | 100% |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 28 | 100% |
| Greece |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 144 | 21 | 100% |
| Monaco |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 87 | 18 | 100% |
| Slovakia |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 109 | 21 | 100% |
| Slovenia |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 16 | 100% |
| Finland |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 122 | 15 | 100% |
| Luxembourg |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 98 | 7 | 100% |
| Andorra |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 57 | 47 | 33% |
| Malta |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 84 | 33% |
| Croatia |
3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 71 | 100 | 0% |
| Israel |
3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 64 | 95 | 0% |
| Latvia |
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 70 | 0% |
| Lithuania |
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 73 | 0% |
| Serbia |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 35 | 0% |
| Total | 50 | 35 | 15 | 0 | 1615 | 748 | 70.00% |
