Rabat 2

Qormi  2

(after extra time; Rabat won 3 – 2 on penalties)

Umpires: Reno Cremona, Alain Vella

A typical semi final providing all the twists and turns expected from such an encounter.   

Qormi went ahead in the 7th minute when they were awarded a penalty stroke which Jonathan Borg converted.  

Play was more or less balanced until after a period of pressure Qormi went further ahead when John Williams scored their second in the 30th minute and they seemed to be cruising to victory at half time.   

But the game was turned on its head in the second half when in the 47th minute a Charlot Antonelli effort was deflected into goal to reduce Rabat’s arrears.   This goal gave Rabat a new lease of life and in fact Rabat drew level in the 60th minute when Kevin Micallef scored from an acute angle.

Rabat then applied further pressure but again went into extra time without any team being able to break the deadlock.  

After an uneventful first period of extra time Qormi won four penalty corners in the second period but could not break down Rabat’s defences.  

Penalties had to be taken to determine the fate of this game and Rabat came out on top scoring three penalties to Qormi’s two and reached the final to be played on Sunday.

Hotsticks 2

Young Stars   1

Umpires: Luke Busuttil Leaver, Ray Muscat

A first half of hustle and bustle which was dominated by mid field play produced only three penalty corners and a few clear cut chances by both teams.  

Young stars took the upper hand before half time without managing to capitalise on a couple of chances late on.

The game burst into life in the second half when in the 36th minute Hotsticks were awarded a penalty stroke which Lucas Plaehn converted.   

A near miss in the 47th minute almost cost them dear as Young Stars reacted strongly and Christian Bonello scored in the 58th minute to level the score.

The pace of the game became frantic and James Mizzi the Young stars’ keeper denied Hotsticks a certain goal in the 62nd minute diving to his right and parrying a goal-bound bullet.     

Two minutes later, Hotsticks were awarded a second penalty stroke and Lucas Plaehn converted to put his side ahead at a critical point in the game.   

Hotsticks played out the final minutes and hung on to their lead booking their place in Sunday’s final against Rabat.