Mosta 1

Tarxien R 2

A late Alan Tabone strike rewarded Tarxien with the KO competition when they yesterday beat Mosta by the odd goal in three.

It was a great finish to an interesting competition, with a pulsating and nail-biting final that finally went the Rainbows’ way.

The match was very balanced and keenly contested and both sides could have claimed the final victory but Tarxien were sharper in front of goal to emerge worthy winners.

Tarxien were in their typical formation with Simon Shead as their main striker supported by Ryan Darmanin with Farrugia, Okoro, and the polished Alan Tabone in midfield.

Mosta coach Molzahn made some changes from his semi-final set up against Senglea, introducing James Borg leaving Bryan Agius on the reserves’ bench. Philip Agius, Cilia and Bilocca started as usual from the bench.

The match followed by a large and noisy crowd had a very good start with Mosta missing a glorious chance when Ryan Deguara preferred to pass in the heart of the penalty area rather than shooting towards goal.

Tarxien hit back with the ever present Okoro blasting over the bar from just inside the area. Mosta had more of the ball in the first half but Tarxien were more direct in their play. A Tabone free-kick was met by Darmanin whose shot on the turn went slightly over the bar.

On 14 minutes Mosta orchestrated a good move with Ryan Deguara’s final shot going wide. A minute later it was Ewurun’s turn to hit over the bar. Ryan Deguara had some impressive runs down the right flank creating panic in the Rainbows’ rearguard.

In the final part Tarxien created a couple of dangerous actions and were very unlucky on 35 minutes when a Ryan Darmanin scorcher slammed against the crossbar. Earlier Alan Tabone tried his luck direct from a free-kick but his shot sailed over the bar.

On 45 minutes Mosta took the lead in spectacular fashion when Daniel Theuma first timed beautifully in the top corner of the net from the edge of the area. However Mosta’s joy was shortlived as from the resumption of play Simon Shead obtained the equaliser with a neat chip after rounding off defender Tabone.

As was expected Mosta introduced Philip Camilleri at the start of the second half, and on the hour Mosta went close with a good Ewurun initiative when he dribbled a couple of defenders before testing Cini who dived to block his shot.

On 70 minutes Tarxien went close when an Okoro shot was blocked by a Mosta defender and from the rebound Ryan Darmanin’s point blank shot was saved by goalkeeper Galea.

Ten minutes from time Mosta goalkeeper saved his side with a brilliant save off a Ryan Darmanin shot, and from the resultant corner the same Galea saved Okoro’s close range shot.

However Tarxien took the lead with seven minutes remaining when John Schembri had a surging run on the right before crossing to Alan Tabone who beat Galea with a precise grounder. Mosta immediately surged forward in search of the equaliser and defender Manuel Caruana saved the day for his side when he blocked Bilocca’s shot that had beaten Cini.

Mosta pushed desperately in the final minutes but the Tarxien defence held well the onslaught to lift the cup.