Pieta H. 2
Zejtun C. 0
Pieta H. FC : N. Vella O. Takaki (T.Bartolo 19'), C. Degabriele, N. Pace Cocks ( J. Scicluna 90'), D. Agius, P. Chimezie, J. Busuttil (N.Pisani 87'), C. Grech, S. Radovanovic, U. Calistus, I. Jalo
Zejtun C. FC : D. Zarb, C. Giordimaina, I. Azzopardi, J. Antonio Meira, D. Andelkovic, A. Carabott ( R. Spiteri 78'), G. Sultana ( E. Vella 35'), D. Albanese, B. Farrugia (A. Smeir 86'), N. Tabone, A. Farrugia
Referee: Malcolm Spiteri
Asst refs: Thomas Debono, Alan Camilleri
4th official: Mario Apap
Scorers: C. Degabriele 55', P. Chimezie 75'
Yellow cards: Degabriele, Giordimaina, Carabott, Jalo
TMI Top 3: 1. Paul Chimezie 2. Adrian Carabott 3. Jan Busuttil
Two goals in the second half paved the way for Pieta Hotspurs to beat Zejtun Corinthians from the First Division and thus make it to the Quarter Finals of the FA Trophy. It was a merited win for Pieta who dominated the proceedings for long stretches.
Pieta had lost their last five games in the Premier League even stretching their winless run to seven matches. This negative run has left Pieta stranded in the penultimate place of the standings. In the previous round Pieta defeated Mdina Knights by a 4-1 scoreline.
On the other hand Zejtun are currently holding on fifth place in the BOV First Division and have lately bounced back from a disappointing run with four consecutive wins. In the previous rounds the Corinthians had eliminated Naxxar Lions and Pembroke Athleta.
They are still hoping that a good run of results will put them well placed to challenge at least for the third spot in the First Division which means a play off against the third from bottom of the Premier League.
Pieta were finding it difficult to break the opposing defence and in the early stages of the match Christian Grech tried his luck from a long range shot. Few minutes later Calistus also tried to break the deadlock through an effort from the distance which went wide.
In the 27th minute Chimezie's header was deflected into a corner. With Jan Busuttil making his way into the opposing area on the half hour only for his effort to end over the bar.
The first glimpse of Zejtun came four minutes from the end of the first half when Neil Tabone broke the opposing rearguard but his curling shot was saved by Vella. And moments later Carabott was unlucky when an indirect freekick from inside the area hit the crossbar.
This was when the Corinthians came of life and on the stroke of half time a Vitinho long range effort was turned onto a corner by Vella.
Pieta took the lead in the 55th minute when it was Christian Degabriele who converted following a corner from the right hand side. Zejtun had to react and this meant that they left their back door open.
In fact fifteen minutes from time Paul Chimezie double the lead and sealed qualification off a counter attack initialized by Jan Busuttil. Till the end Pieta controlled well and now find themselves in the hat for the draw to be held early next week.