Vittoriosa Stars pulled a somewhat surprise win over disappointing Mosta, in this first match of the afternoon between two First Division sides, to advance to the second round of the U*BET FA Trophy.

Their triumph was a deserved one as they were the more organised and determined of the two. They created the better opportunities and could have even won by a wider margin.

Vittoriosa did not look anywhere inferior to their more quoted opponents for the first 45 minutes and after taking an early nine-minute lead, they scored a late penalty to legitimise their second half superiority.

Anthony Eviparker was their hero, scoring both goals, as his superior pace often took him past his opponents with alarming ease, creating space for his team mates.

He put the Stars in front after nine minutes when he chested a Camilleri free kick inside the Mosta area on the right and, although challenged by Adrian Borg and with his back to goal, he beat keeper Debono with a spectacular overhead kick.

Mosta were poor in the first half. They squandered a couple of half chances through Ryan Deguara and had a Vella effort saved by the Vittoriosa keeper Micallef.

Mosta carved out a good opportunity five minutes into the second half when a Bryan Agius shot from inside the area forced the Vittoriosa keeper to stretch himself and save.

But the Stars continued to show superiority and on 53 minutes they had a claim for penalty turned down by the referee after Privitelli put Eviparker through but fell when he came into contact with the onrushing keeper Debono. The Mosta custodian twice denied Eviparker before he tipped Calleja's shot from outside the area over the bar towards the hour.

Mosta kept probing for an equalizer but Vittoriosa remained the more potent force in attack. On 68 minutes, Eviparker played the ball wide to Abela on the right, the keeper rushed out to block at his feet but lost the ball, only for Frrugia to clear the danger.

On 83 minutes, Vittoriosa's most dangerous player Eviparker again played the ball through to the unmarked Abela, who lobbed over.

There was no denying Vittoriosa a second goal with five minutes remaining. Farrugia floored Privitelli inside the area and Anthony Eviparker stepped up to tuck away the resultant penalty and book his side a place into the second round.

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Mosta: J. Debono, B. Agius (C. Camenzuli), A. Borg, S. Borg, M. Brincat, R. Deguara, A. Ewurun (J. Bajada), M. Farrugia, L. Micallef (G. Calabretta), E. Vella, A. Saliba

Vittoriosa S: J. Micallef, K. Abela, J. Spiteri, S. Calleja, A. Eviparker, D. Gauci, J. Camilleri, L. Lagana, R. Adami, L. Scerri (H. Hughes), S. Privitelli (T. Camilleri)

Referee: P. Caruana asst.refs: P. Agius, M. Debono

Scorers: A. Eviparker (2)

Yellow cards: A. Ewurun, R. Adami, S. Privitelli, S. Calleja, R. Deguara, M. Farrugia, T. Camilleri