Students and teachers from Falmouth School have recently returned from a sports tour of Malta where they trained with, and played matches against, local teams, and went sightseeing across the island.

Both the football and two netball teams trained at a fabulous school facility with a state of the art sports hall featuring tiered seating and an outdoor 3G astroturf pitch.

Falmouth School sports development officer, Tommy Matthews, said: “Malta has its own set of problems regarding grass pitches.

“They can’t keep grass pitches irrigated so they've invested heavily in 3G astro pitches all over the island to keep maintenance to a minimum.”

The girls performed fantastically with the A team beating local side NFun 21-11 and the B team narrowly missing out on a win, drawing 7-7 in their first game.

Falmouth Packet:

After a few intense training sessions the girls then played a team called All Ages.

The B team team won their match 5-3 and the A team won their game 12-5, going on to compete against a ladies team which consisted of players aged between 18 and 26 years old.

Falmouth School won 11-6 which was a fantastic achievement after lots of hard work.

PE teacher Christie Benney said: “The girls were a delight to work with throughout the week. They applied maximum effort to the training sessions and the progress they made in such a short period of time was tremendous.

“I am so proud of the way in which the girls worked together as a school supporting one another when playing against a different country, particularly when they faced the ladies team who were much older than them. The sports tour was a fantastic opportunity for everyone involved and one which we hope to repeat next year.”

The boys beat Mgarr Youth 6-2 in their first match - played in driving horizontal rain - but unfortunately they lost their second game 3-2 having outplayed their hosts Rabat FC for most of the match. However they did get to meet the champions of Malta, Birkirkara FC before their final match, which was really exciting for the boys.

Student Jared Thomas said: “Malta was really good. It developed us as footballers playing against the local teams and showed us how well we can play as individuals and as a team.”

As well as their sport the students took a tour of the Maltese cities of Mdina and Valletta, wher ehty enjoyed a boat trip around the famous harbour.

Pupils Daisy Harding, Neil Packer and Daisy Easterby-Sands said: “Our trip to Malta was an amazing experience. We got to meet different people with different cultures.

"The staff at the hotel were welcoming and friendly. The island itself is very beautiful and we went on a boat trip and saw incredible landmarks. We would definitely go again!”