Rabat        4

Sliema Hotsticks  1

Umpires: James Mizzi, Edward  Hughes

Early on in the game, both teams started cautiously but then Hotsticks started exerting pressure are the game progressed and in the 20th minute Ludolf Rasterhoff went close off a penalty corner action.

A minute later, he had another effort cleared off the line by Matthew Buhagiar who dived full length to his rights to clear his lines.  

Rabat won a penalty corner in the 32nd minute and Kevin Micallef drilled a shot just past the post. 

The half time whistle blew with neither team able to open the score line.

The second half started with Hotsticks on the attack and they should have gone ahead when, during a prolonged action in the D, Daniel Agius just failed to put his side in the lead.   

They further failed to capitalise after winning two penalty corners in succession in the 40th minute.  Rabat reacted and in the 43rd minute Mario Galea netted after picking up a rebound off the Hotsticks goalkeeper’s pads. 

In the 51st minute Simon Baldacchino equalised for Hotsticks but the game was decided when Rabat scored three goals in the space of seven minutes.  

Shawn Falzon netted in the 53rd minute as a result of a penalty corner action, Mario Galea notched his second goal in the 55th minute from another penalty corner move and finally Thomas Sammut scored Rabat’s fourth goal hitting home from the top of the D. 

Hotsticks never gave up but could not add to their tally which means that Rabat have reached the Challenge Cup semi finals.

White Hart       0

Qormi  1

Umpires: Reno Cremona, Keith Vella

A game which Qormi dominated territorially but found it difficult to break down White Hart’s intelligent defensive tactics.  

In the 5th minute Juan Sarcia shot well over the bar follow a penalty corner action. 

Further penalty corner actions in the 11th and 13th minutes bore no results and in the 24th minute White Hart’s Simon Agius dived full length to clear off the line with his goalkeeper beaten. 

Continued pressure applied by Qormi failed to break White Hart’s rearguard and a Jonathan Borg effort off another penalty corner action in the 27th minute was well saved by Robert Vassallo Agius, White Hart’s goalkeeper, who is in fine form at the moment.  

Half time was reached with both goals intact.

The same pattern emerged in the second half with both sides winning a penalty corner each early on but the deadlock was broken when Zachary Degiovanni shot Qormi ahead in the 57th minute when his shot went in off a post following another short corner move. 

White Hart won a short corner of their own in the 61st minute but did not capitalise on the situation.  

The final whistle blew with Qormi winning 1- 0 and qualifying for the semi final of the Challenge Cup.