Malta make their point against Georgia

Malta have their first point on the board in UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying after an excellent Michael Mifsud goal earned them a 1-1 draw against Group F rivals Georgia.

Already out of the qualification race, Georgia took the lead with a quarter of an hour gone through Jaba Kankava, but they were pegged back ten minutes later as Malta captain Mifsud drew the hosts level. Chances were hard to come by after that, leaving Georgia in fourth on ten points ahead of their final qualifier against Greece on 11 October.

The visitors had hoped to post their maiden away win of the campaign when Kankava silenced the home crowd with of a neat lob over goalkeeper Andrew Hogg after collecting the ball from David Targamadze. It was not to be, though, and Valletta FC forward Mifsud followed up his goal in Friday's 3-1 loss against Croatia with a superb shot beyond Nukri Revishvili, John Hutchinson having laid on a perfect through ball.

The two teams began to cancel each other out in midfield as the match wore on and the second half largely passed without incident, save for key Malta midfielder Ryan Fenech needing to leave the pitch through injury on the hour. The hosts were content with their point at the final whistle and will set out to add to it in their last remaining qualifiers, in Latvia on 7 October and at home against Israel four days later.