18 teams advance to third round of 2019-20 FA Trophy

2019-20 FA Trophy – Second Round 25/10/2019SAN ĠWANN 2MARSA          0(Victor Tedesco Stadium)1-0 Gauci 25; 2-0 Z. Bowman 43. San Ġwann surprised Second Division league leaders Marsa in an entertaining FA Trophy second round match.  The team led by Jean Paul Desira had a good chance after 10 minutes when Luca Mallia saw his low shot saved by Clive Caruana in the Marsa goal. On 25 minutes, the Saints took the lead when Christian Gauci volleyed past Caruana after an inch-perfect Jake Bowman pass. Two minutes before the break, San Ġwann made it 2-0 when, from a corner action, Zach Bowman rose high to head powerfully past Caruana who got a touch to the ball. Marsa should have reduced the deficit on 56 minutes but Ryan Previ’s effort was easily saved by Formosa. QRENDI             0LIJA ATHLETIC 5(Victor Tedesco Stadium)0-1 Giordimaina 20, 0-2 Beu 24, 0-3 Wood 30, 0-4 Beu 56, 0-5 Beu 71. BOV First Division league leaders Lija Athletic eased into the third round of the FA Trophy as Erjon Beu scored a hat-trick in a 5-0 win over Qrendi. Lija Athletic forged ahead on 20 minutes when a corner by Wells found Clayton Giordimaina who artfully clipped the ball past Marmara. The second goal soon followed when from a counter-attack, Beu received the ball in the box and direct his shot past Marmara. Lija practically confirmed their passage to the third round on the half-hour when Harry Wood scored with a long-range shot, his first ever official senior goal.  Beu completed his hat-trick in the second half, concluding two surging runs with a clinical finish on 56 and 71 minutes.26/10/2019ŻURRIEQ 0MELITA    2(Luxol Stadium)0-1 Cachia 45 pen.; 0-2 Claridge 68 pen. Melita overcame Żurrieq to progress to the next round. Noel Omondi was denied by Melita goalkeeper James Borg early on. On 27 minutes, Melita came close again with an angled shot by Glanville Goodlip which was again saved by Borg. On the stroke of half-time, Żurrieq goalkeeper Borg was sent off for a late tackle inside the box. Melita were awarded a penalty which was cooly converted by Michael Cachia. After the break, Żurrieq made a strong reaction, going close on 53 minutes when John Nwoba set off on a long run but his effort was saved by Melita goalkeeper Jurgen Cilia. It was Melita who sealed their win on 68 minutes when they were awarded another penalty that was easily converted by Dany Claridge. VESELJI AT THE DOUBLE MARSAXLOKK 1ST ANDREWS 3(Victor Tedesco Stadium)0-1 Veselji 40, 0-2 Veselji 72, 0-3 Vella-Vidal 86, 1-3 Tabone 88 pen. A clinical victory for Brian Said’s young St Andrews side who made no mistake against Second Division high-flyers Marsaxlokk. Marsaxlokk had their fair share of possession but paid the price for missing two clear chances in the first 30 minutes. Five minutes before the break, St Andrews took the lead when Reid’s shot was deflected home by Mattia Veselji. On 57 minutes, Veselji’s header from a Jamie Sixsmith cross just missed target. Marsaxlokk pressed hard for an equaliser but were caught on the counter-attack in the 72nd minute when Reid passed to Veselji who had the easiest of tasks tapping the ball home from close in. A minute later, St Andrews were awarded a penalty when Reid was fouled in the box. It was Veselji who stepped up for the kick but Magri saved in style. The Saints’ third goal arrived four minutes from time, thanks to some more good work by Reid who passed to substitute Malcom Vella-Vidal who placed the ball behind Magri for his first official senior goal. Marsaxlokk scored a consolidation goal on 88 minutes when Alan Tabone was fouled in the box and the veteran converted from the spot.MELLIEĦA          1SWIEQI UNITED 4(Luxol Stadium)0-1 Bene 2, 0-2 Fernandes 60, 0-3 Fernandes 67, 0-4 Taliana 81, 1-4 Fenech 83 First Division side Swieqi United obtained a deserved win over Second Division outfit Mellieħa.Swieqi did not have to wait long to break the deadlock when Bene had the easiest of tap-ins after receiving from Tejumola Ayorinde after just two minutes. On the hour, the team led by coach Rodney Bugeja doubled their lead thanks to a shot by Fernando Fernandes that took a deflection on its way into the net. Seven minutes later, Swieqi sealed their passage to the third round of the FA Trophy when Fernandes scored his second of the game Mellieħa were unlucky not to reduce the deficit on 80 minutes when Dusan Petrovic slammed a beautiful shot against the crossbar. Swieqi made it 4-0 courtesy of substitute Luke Taliana, another debutant. Mellieħa pulled one back on 83 minutes through David Fenech. PIETÀ HOTSPURS 4ST GEORGE’S        1(Victor Tedesco Stadium)1-0 Scicluna 5, 2-0 Pisani 27, 3-0 Delmar 75, 4-0 Scicluna 85, 4-1 Hiruma 89 Pietà Hotspurs won their encounter with St George’s 4-1 to reach the third round of the FA Trophy. Pietà opened the scoring after five minutes thanks to an opportunistic goal by James Scicluna who beat the on-rushing Daniel Buttigieg with a low shot. On 27 minutes, Sheldon Pisani doubled Pietà’s lead with an angled shot from just outside the box. After the restart, St George’s piled the pressured on the Pietà defence with Takumi Hiruma and Dylan Caruana going closest to scoring. Leeroy Bonett had a close-range effort blocked by the Pietà goalkeeper but 15 minutes from time the Hotspurs put the result beyond doubt thanks to a Jeremy Delmar goal. Pietà moved 4-0 up four minutes from time, Scicluna beating Buttigieg from the edge of the box, his second goal of the afternoon. Hiruma then scored a consolidation goal for St George’s with a minute left to play. 27/10/2019QORMI 1LUQA ST ANDREW’S 0(Victor Tedesco Stadium)1-0 Gusman 34 This derby cup tie was won by Qormi who edged out a stubborn Luqa St Andrew’s side.Qormi scored what proved to be winner on 34 minutes when Tensior Gusman hit home from the rebound after Bartolo had parried a fine shot. Qormi continued dominating proceedings with Luqa doing their best to stay compact. On 71 minutes, Gusman could have increased Qormi’s lead with a header that ended wide The Yellow-Blacks missed a golden opportunity on 80 minutes when Gusman’s point-blank effort was deflected by Samba Camara with the ball falling to Carlos Debattista who shot against the post. 28/10/2019DINGLI SWALLOWS 1MQABBA                   3(Centenary Stadium)0-1 Margarit 2, 0-2 Margarit 10, 0-3 Margarit 19, 1-3 Vassallo 35. Mqabba advanced to the third round after beating a depleted Dingli Swallows side who did their best in the circumstances.Romanian striker Ion Alin Margarit stole the limelight for Mqabba, scoring a hat-trick in the first 20 minutes. Margarit found a way past the Dingli defence and slotted into the net in the second minute. His second came eight minutes later and on 19 minutes, Margarit completed his hat-trick with a brilliant shot that gave Dingli goalkeeper Isaac Craus no chance. Dingli narrowed the deficit when centre-back Mark Vassallo hit past Fredrick Tabone from inside the box just after the half-hour mark. The second half saw Mqabba creating a number of chances but failing to capitalise on them, with however Dingli rarely troubling Tabone on the other end, giving Mqabba a comfortable win and an FA Trophy 3rd round slot. PEMBROKE ATHLETA 3XGĦAJRA TORNADOS 0(Centenary Stadium)1-0 Mifsud-Triganza 42 pen., 2-0 Mijic 71, 3-0 Pedrinho 90 pen. Pembroke Athleta secured their place in the third round of the FA Trophy after beating Xgħajra Tornados 3-0. After going close to opening the scoring on several occasions, Pembroke went ahead three minutes before the break. They were awarded a penalty with Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza making no mistake from the spot. After another spell of sustained pressure, Pembroke extended their lead on 71 minutes when Luka Mijic produced a fine shot from outside the box to beat Falzon in the Xgħajra goal. In the dying minutes of the game, Pembroke won another penalty which was converted by Pedrinho for a 3-0 win. OTHER MATCHES26/10/2019RABAT AJAX 4GĦARGĦUR 1(Sirens Stadium)0-1 Allan Fernandes 15 pen., 1-1 Alejandro Jimenez 46, 2-1 Isaac Abela 51, 3-1 Isaac Abela 77, 4-1 Larens Vella 87. MĠARR UNITED 5GĦAXAQ 1(Sirens Stadium)1-0 Lazar Doric 6, 2-0 Joseph-Paul Zammit 13, 2-1 Jurgen Gerada 54, 3-1 Gordon Saliba 74, 4-1 Jamie-Lee Micallef 80, 5-1 Kenneth Aquilina 90. 27/10/2019KERĊEM AJAX 2FGURA UNITED 1(Kerċem Ajax Stadium)1-0 Ali Oularbi 25, 1-1 Carlos Valero 77, 2-1 Elton Vella 89. ATTARD                        0ŻABBAR ST PATRICK 1(Luxol Stadium)0-1 Carl Abela 86. BIRŻEBBUĠA ST PETER’S 2XEWKIJA TIGERS                7(Sirens Stadium)0-1 Juninho Nogueira 4, 0-2 Joseph-Mario Vella 19, 0-3 Claudio Antunes Cadu 34, 0-4 Claudio Antunes Cadu 58, 1-4 Andrea Sant 60, 1-5 Claudio Antunes Cadu 62, 2-5 Andrea Sant 66 pen., 2-6 Michael Camilleri 77, 2-7 Michael Camilleri 86. XAGĦRA UNITED          0VICTORIA HOTSPURS 3(Kerċem Ajax Stadium)0-1 Henrique Maciel 9, 0-2 Christian Mercieca 72, 0-3 Elton da Silva 79. ŻEBBUĠ RANGERS 3KALKARA UNITED 1Luxol Stadium)1-0 Muda Fagbeja 2, 1-1 Larson Mallia 38, 2-1 Muda Fagbeja 72, 3-1 Ryan Zammit 91. VITTORIOSA STARS 0NADUR YOUNGSTERS 3(Sirens Stadium)0-1 Lucas Barreto 10, 0-2 Lucas Barreto 40, 0-3 Brandon Said 90. ŻEJTUN CORINTHIANS 2NAXXAR LIONS             1(Victor Tedesco Stadium)1-0 Ribeiro do Nascimento 25, 1-1 Edson Farias 45, 2-1 Jurgen Suda 82 pen.QUALIFIED TEAMSFirst Division (9)Lija Athletic, Mqabba, Pembroke Athleta, Pietà Hotspurs, Qormi, St Andrews, Swieqi United, Żebbuġ Rangers, Żejtun Corinthians Second Division (5)Melita, Mġarr United, Rabat Ajax, San Ġwann, Żabbar St Patrick GFA First Division (4)Kerċem Ajax, Nadur Youngsters, Victoria Hotspurs, Xewkija Tigers The 14 teams in the Premier League enter the fray in the third round of the FA Trophy competition.