Newly crowned champions Valletta will be facing second placed Balzan in the second semi final of the FA Trophy. The draw was made Monday morning, with the other semi final resulting in the clash between Birkirkara and Sliema Wanderers.
Valletta won their 24th title on Saturday thanks to their victory over Gzira, with Balzan missing the bus in the final ninety minutes as they were defeated by outgoing champions Hibernians. Balzan who have yet to win a major honour in their history, lost the FA Trophy final in 2016 after a penalty shoot out with Sliema Wanderers.
It will be the third encounter this season between Balzan and Valletta with Balzan winning in the first round followed by a scoreless draw in the second round. The first semifinal between Birkirkara and Sliema will played on Saturday at the National Stadium at 4pm, with the second semifinal between Balzan and Valletta being played on Sunday at The National Stadium at 4pm. The final will be played on Saturday 5th May.
The Malta Independent spoke to Valletta's long serving spokesman Paul Spiteri about the interesting meeting with Balzan and this is what he had to say: "At this point our main objective is that of landing the double this season. Another big objective of our club remains that of becoming the most successful club on the island emulating the number of titles won both by Floriana and Sliema who to date, stand on 25 and 26 titles respectively. This is a long-term project and a dream we are working upon. One should also keep in mind that Valletta remains the club to have won most silverware in the National Stadium."
Dr Angelo Chetcuti, General Secretary of the Malta FA, was also asked about his views about Malta's popular Knock-Out competition: "As you know this knock-out competition puts the curtain down on the season. All the attention shifts to the final phase of this competition once the BOV Premier League is won. This season we have four big clubs contending to lift the BOOST Diesel FA Trophy silverware in the shape of Birkirkara, Sliema Wanderers, new champions Valletta and Balzan. Interesting to note that when many were talking about the possibility of seeing these last two teams engaged in a "title" decider this coming Saturday, now we have them in another dimension - that of an enthralling knock-out semi-final on Sunday. May the best from all the four teams win," he said.
A total of 64 clubs took part in the 2017/18 BOOST Diesel FA Trophy edition.