The Cyprus national team, featuring brothers Hadee and Farhad Fayaz, again found the Malta challenge a bridge too far after succumbing to a 41-24 away defeat at the Hibernians Stadium, Paola, on Saturday.

Hadee, deployed on both wings, worked tirelessly as he put in a full shift over 80 minutes against tough and mobile opponents, whereas his younger brother and replacement prop Fadee was introduced for a 20-minute spell after the break.

The European Conference One South 1 game was a full-on encounter from a get-go, and Malta, having lorded the corresponding fixture 27-10 in 2022, were clearly determined to give outgoing coach Damian Neill the best possible send off.

Edging the first-half in terms of pace and power, Malta hounded the visitors to distraction and, having repeatedly stretched their opponents to breaking point, their inevitable four try salvo yielded a bountiful 22-0 half-time lead.

Having struggled to come to terms with the staccato tempo of the game, Cyprus continued to suffer on the scoreboard, as a rampant Malta heaped further misery on their rivals by adding a further two tries to the ledger to forge 34-0 clear.

All but down and out as this juncture, an outgunned Cypriot side steadily lifted themselves off the canvas and, with their warrior spirit kicking-in, they belatedly flourished as the game descended into hard, fast and loose mode.

The upshot was a sterling fightback with the Cypriots reeling off the next three tries, the pick of which was a score pre-faced by a neat dink over the top, and some great support play, which brought the score-line back to 34-19.

This roused Malta from their torpor as it ushered in their seventh and final try from the platform of their dominant set-piece, but, fittingly, Cyprus had the final say as they again cut loose for their fourth try.

For the record, Cyprus claimed their quartet of tries via scrum-half Corey Paraskeva, outside centre Ben Yarrow, winger Kai Phillips and Stylianou Pantellis. Ben Yarrow also added two conversions.

It proved another milestone in the rugby experience of the Fayaz brothers, and the chance to play in the national rugby stadium, which can accommodate crowds of up to 8000, and all that goes with it.

Hadee Fayaz (pictured left with brother Fadee) said: “It’s a shame that we allowed Malta such a big start and gave ourselves a mountain to climb. However, it was a great experience

“The energy [we showed] in the second-half was much better and we won this part of the game 24-19, having [at last] decided to play. They were a physical side but the pace in our backline, once we got going, was our strongest weapon.

“The Cypriot squad are a great bunch of lads and to step and play at this level is always a challenge that I relish. We go again against Bulgaria in May.”

The result enabled Malta to go to the top of the Pool, although the side they leapfrogged, unbeaten Bulgaria, do have a game in hand, whereas Cyprus moved down a place to third in a table completed by Israel and Slovenia.

Cyprus complete their current round of pool games in May when they host a powerful Bulgaria side.