Floriana 0
Hamrun S. 1
Floriana: I. Apkan, M. Saleh, E. Ruiz, S. Pisani, C. Borg (D. Grima 83), I. Varela (G. Galesic 55), M. Vella (D. Agius 46), J. Cabral, C. Failla, A. Cini, E. Marcellina
Hamrun S.: E. Bartolo, A. Monticelli, E. Pepe, T. Caruana,S. Nayar, W. Domoraud, M. R. Gauci, K.Micallef, O. Nikolopoulos, C. Calil, K. Tulimieri (B. Schembri 88)
Referee: AM Sant
Asst refs: E. Spiteri, C. Francalanza
4th official: I. Barbara
Scorers: W. Domoraud 31
Yellow cards: S. E. Pepe 2, I. Varela 32, K.Tulimieri 67, S. Nayar 90
Attendance: 708
Hamrun Spartans set up a daunting clash with Birkirkara in the round of Last 16 when yesterday they advanced to that round after beating Floriana 1-0.
Wilfried Domoraud was their hero yesterday as he scored what proved to be the winner on 31 minutes.
This defeat for Floriana was just a confirmation of their disastrous season so far. Not only they are out of the FA Trophy, but they also seem to be out of the reckoning for a place in European football next season via the League. Only a miracle can now save their season.
New coach Guido Ugolotti has a formidable task in trying to reverse the Greens fortunes for the rest of the season.
The first half was keenly contested - but in midpitch - as actions on both goals were scarce. In fact, neither goalkeeper was seriously tested by the respective forwards.
And the only action which provided the goal for Hamrun proved to be the only goalmouth thrill that evolved during the opening 45 minutes.
In the second half, Floriana's reaction was rather feeble. Despite their almost incessant attacks, they never troubled goalkeeper Emmanuel Bartolo between the Hamrun sticks.
On 11 minutes, Sebastian Nayar saw his excellent freekick turned to corner in style by Floriana goalie Akpan.
Actions were few and far between, but in the 25th minute, a Clyde Borg dangerous shot was deviated to corner by Pepe.
Hamrun took the lead on the 31st minute when from a Nayar cross, Wilfried Domoraud rose above friend and foe to head home past a helpless Akpan.
The match became boring as Floriana never really reacted to this setback though Varela tried his luck with a volley on 45 minutes, but his effort went wide of Bartolo's post.
The first half ended in a veritable heavy downpour which saw most of the officials and players running for cover in the tunnel leading to the dressing rooms.
The second half again started on a quiet note, but in the 58th minute, a Domoraud low but central shot did not provide Akpan with any trouble to save.
In the 67th minute, Failla had a freekick sailing harmlessly over the bar.
In the final moments, Floriana pressed hard for an equaliser to send the match into extra time, but the Spartans defended with all their might to emerge winners.
Temile, De Assis strikes enough for Sliema to advance
Sliema W. 2
St Andrews 0
Sliema W.: J. Galea, M. Muchardi, M. Scerri (S. Cassar 90), J. De Assis, R. Fenech (J. Mintoff 64), N. Ashong, F. Temile, M. Sansone, G. Adamovic, S. Biancardi, Y. Marzouk (K. Shaw 75)
St Andrews: M. Calleja Cremona, A. Satariano, R. Martin (K. Magro 78), T. Blagrove, K. Atkinson, K. Reid (A. Friggieri 69), J. Farrugia (K. Pulo 77), A. Borg, A. Brown, M. Davis, M. Woo Ling
Referee: D. Agius
Asst refs: R. Vella, P. Apap
4th official: S. Calleja
Scorers: F. Temile 32, J. De Assis 48
Yellow cards: S. Biancardi 29
Goals by Frank Temile in the first half and Jefferson De Assis early in the second half proved to be enough for Sliema to advance into the Last 16 yesterday at the expense of Premier League colleagues St Andrews.
The Wanderers will now be facing the winners of today's Senglea-Mosta encounter for a place in the quarterfinals.
It was a deserved victory for John Buttigieg's side which was superior to the Saints who were found wanting in their conclusions.
The first half was quite balanced with Sliema, however, being more adventurous though creating just a few real scoring chances.
The Saints were perhaps more direct in their approach but they never proved to be dangerous as their conclusions were erratic or easy prey for goalie Jake Galea.
When Sliema scored their second goal soon after the start of the second half, the match became a bigger uphill struggle for the Saints.
In fact, despite their all out efforts to get back in contention, they were never able to test goalie Galea.
On their part, Sliema controlled their opponents quite well but they eased their rhythm considerably as they remained firmly in command of proceedings.
Sliema were the first to have a pot at goal on 7 minutes. From a Sansone cross, Muchardi headed just wide.
Three minutes later, at the other end, a Woo Ling effort was deviated to corner by a Sliema .defender.
On the 30th minute, Sliema goalie Galea was called into action to save an Atkinson central freekick.
But it was Sliema who broke the deadlock two minutes later when from a corner from the right, it was Temile who was first to the ball to head it past Calleja Cremona.
St Andrews replied quickly but an Atkinson dangerous shot was deviated to a corner by a defender.
The Wanderers threatened again in the 37th minute through a Mark Scerri shot which was saved in two attempts by goalie Calleja Cremona.
Sliema doubled their lead on the 48th minute. From a Muchardi cross, it was Jefferson De Assis who headed into the net past a helpless Calleja Cremona.
In the 72nd minute, Sliema were close to scoring a third goal when Mark Scerri advanced into the area on the right flank, but goalie Calleja Cremona rushed out of his charge to block his effort.
The Saints first effort in this second half arrived on 76 minutes - a Satariano shot which passed across goal.
Four minutes later, as the Saints insisted, an Atkinson header was saved with difficulty by Galea with the ball landing on the crossbar and going over.
Holders advance
Marsa - Valletta 0-3
Marsa: A. Roppas, M. Busuttil, N. Mocyk, R. De Fex Mariaga, M. Gauci, S. Darmanin, A. Streti, P. Anizoba, N. Micallef, A. Agius, L. Chiedozie.
Valletta: Y. Cini, J. Caruana, Z. Soussi, S. Borg, S. Malano, M. Picciolo, J. Borg, E.M. Pena Beltre, R. Saleh, M. Alba, M. Fontanella.
Referee: Etienne Mangion
Scorers: Jean Borg 17', Miguel Alba 52' pen, Matteo Picciolo 59'
As expected holders Valletta found little difficulty in disposing of Marsa's feeble resistance to advance to the fourth round, where they will now face another First Division side Lija Athletic.
Under-21 defender Jean Borg broke the deadlock on seventeen minutes, but the Citizens had to wait till the second half to put their minds at rest with a Miguel Alba penalty on 52 minutes and Matteo Picciolo's third goal seven minutes later.
Zejtun qualify with Edson Cardona brace
Pembroke - Zejtun 0-2
Pembroke A: K. Gerada, M. Focsa, J.P. Mifsud Triganza, G. Azzopardi, Z. Grech, M. Wilmsen, A. Hili, M.A. Borg, I. Misan, Y. Tonna, G. Claudio Da Silva
Zejtun C: D. Zarb, E. Cardona, C. Giordemaina, A. Carabott, J. Castano, D. Albanese, B. Farrugia, J. Sato, N. Tabone, A. Farrugia, E. Vella.
Scorer: Edson Cardona 21' pen, 29'
Zejtun finally had something to cheer about yesterday as they defeated fellow First Division side Pembroke with two first half goals to move to the fourth round of The FA Trophy.
Edson Cardona was Zejtun' match winner yesterday scoring both goals in an eight minute spell in the first half. He scored the first goal on 21 minutes from the penalty spot and sealed the issue with a second goal eight minutes later.
Xewkija Tigers keep Gozitan standards high
Gudja U - Xewkija T 1-2
Gudja U: M. Xerxen, L. Martinelli, J. Bondin, M. Attard, J. Lima Siqueira, G. Chircop, A. Ramos, F. Aboulezz, J. Farrugia, A. Marshall, R. Kooh Sohna
Xewkija T: M. Grima, M. Tabone, S. Martinez, D. Krstic, C. Bugeja, A. Cadu, G. Hili, J. Cefai, M. Stojanovic, M. Xerri, D. Bogdanovic
Referee: Glen Tonna
Scorers: Jackson Lima Siqueira 28' (G), Milos Stojanovic 57' (X), Antonio Claudio Pavlidis Cadu 104' pen (X)
Xewkija Tigers kept the Gozitan flag flying high in this year's FA Trophy with an extra time victory over First Division side Gudja United.
Gudja took a first half lead, but Xewkija Tigers obtained the equaliser in the second half, forcing the match to go to extra time.
Just before the end of the first half of extra time, Xewkija scored what proved to be the winner, with the decisive goal caoming from the penalty spot.
Gudja went in front thanks to a goal scored by ex-Hibernians player Jackson Lima Siqueira, his goal coming on 28 minutes. On 57 minutes Xewkija Tigers drew level with Milos Stojanovic getting the precious goal.
The match dragged on to extra time with Xewkija rewarded on 104 minutes when they won a penalty which was converted by Antonio Claudio Pavlidis Cadu.
Gudja tried to put the match to penalties, but the Gozitans held on to their precious lead to move to the fourth round.
Lija crush Mellieha and now face holders
Mellieha - Lija A 0-5
Mellieha: J. Magro, J. Debattista, J. Borg, D. Fenech, J. Farrugia, J. Borg, R. Cutajar, T. Sant, J. Cutajar, W. Chetcuti, D. Golubovic.
Lija A: Z. Valletta, P. Dandolo, K. Kuroki, P. Borg, A. Sammut, M. Clinch, G. Borg, D. Mintoff, R. Sammut, A. Azzopardi, M. Borg Bartolo, A. Borg.
Scorers: Paolo Dandolo 3', Koken Kuroki 8', Andrea Azzopardi 42', Gabriel Borg 52', Andrea Azzopardi 59'
Lija Athletic were not expected to falter against second division side Mellieha, and in fact they had an easy passage to the last 16 with a crushing 5-0 victory.
Lija's qualification was in fact mush easier than expected, as they practically had the qualification safe and sound by the opening ten minutes of the match.
Two quick goals practically sealed the issue in Lija's favour and Mellieha never gave the impression they could offer some resistance to their opponents.
Paolo Dandolo opened the score after barely three minutes play and five minutes later Koken Kuroki doubled the score.
Any residual hopes Mellieha might have had vanished completely three minutes from the break when Andrea Azzopardi scored Lija's third goal.
The second half was a training spin for Lija who added two further goals through Gabriel Borg and Andrea Azzopardi.
Lija now have an uphill task in January as they face Trophy holders Valletta in a near to impossible task in the last 16.
Stripes ease through with two goals in each half
Nadur Y - Birkirkara 0-4
Nadur Y: F. Vella, T. Souza de Silveira, L. Barreto, C. Abela, D. Farrugia, M. Barbosa, L. Tabone, D. Bustos, S. Attard, J. Buttigieg, Y. Messias.
Birkirkara: K. Naumovski, H. Marcelinho, M. Andjelkovic, P. Fenech, P. Orlandic, C. Attard, K. Zammit, M. Mifsud, M. Guillaumier, M. Ferreira Dos Santos.
Referee: Trustin Farrugia Cann
Scorers: Danilo Augusto Chapoval 28', Marcelo Franca De Siqueira 30', Petar Orlandic 50', Paul Fenech 64'
The tricky trip to Gozo proved to be mush more easy than expected for the Stripes, who easily brushed aside Nadur Youngsters resistance with two goals in each half.
Nadur fizzled out after suffering two quick goals near the first half an hour of the match. With a two-goal cushion the Stripes were in full control and added two further goals on the resumption to qualify easily to the fourth round of the competition.
They will face a harder test now in January in the last 16 stage as they take on Hamrun Spartans who yesterday defeated Floriana with Domoraud first half header.
Birkirkara broke the deadlock on 28 minutes through Chapoval, and two minutes later doubled the score through Marcelo Franca de Siqueira.
Petar Orlandic and Paul Fenech added further goals for the Stripes in the second half for a very comfortable victory.