Lions stun holders, easy for Valletta and Balzan

NAXXAR LIONS 3FLORIANA         1(AET; 90 mins – 1-1) Floriana’s bid to retain the FA Trophy fell at the first hurdle as the holders conceded a 3-1 defeat to fellow Premier League side Naxxar Lions in their third-round match on Saturday. The match at the Hibernians Stadium went into extra-time after Mario Fontanella’s penalty early in the second half cancelled out Scott Fenwick’s early opener for the Lions. Steve Pisani had earlier missed a penalty for the Greens whose hopes of winning the game rose when Naxxar Lions had Oussenyou Ndoye sent off after he earned a second caution for bringing down Juninho Cabral inside the box. The Lions refused to buckle and came through on top in extra-time. Fenwick was on target again three minutes into extra-time and Yuri De Messias sealed Naxxar’s win in the closing minutes. To add insult to injury for Floriana, coach Giovanni Tedesco and his assistant Jonathan Holland were sent off from the bench. SPARTANS PROGRESS GŻIRA UNITED           0ĦAMRUN SPARTANS 1(AET)Ħamrun Spartans advanced to the fourth round of the FA Trophy after beating Gzira United following extra-time on Sunday. Neither side managed to break the deadlock during the regular 90 minutes but 10 minutes in the first half of extra-time, the Spartans scored the winner thanks to Tiago Souza da Silveira. The Spartans face Sliema Wanderers in the fourth round. CITY SEAL IT IN FIRST HALF VALLETTA                   2SENGLEA ATHLETIC 0 Valletta eased into the fourth round of the BOOST Diesel FA Trophy after beating fellow Premier League side Senglea Athletic 2-0 at the Centenary Stadium on Saturday. Raed Ibrahim Saleh fired the Citizens ahead on the 27th minute and Michael Mifsud’s close-range strike wrapped up their win as Senglea failed to muster a reaction. Valletta will face BOV Division One side Pietà Hotspurs in the next round. BALZAN DOMINANT BALZAN           4GUDJA UNITED1 Balzan cruised to a 4-1 win over Second Division side Gudja United at the Victor Tedesco Stadium. Bojan Kaljevic put Balzan on their way after five minutes and Marko Platisa doubled their lead midway into the first half. Two minutes from the end of the first half, Alex da Paixao Alves made it 3-0 for Balzan. Chris Grech narrowed the deficit for Gudja in the 57th but two minutes later, Alves restored Balzan’s three-goal lead. Balzan have set up a clash with Naxxar Lions in the fourth round. SLIEMA HIT BACK SLIEMA WANDERERS 3ST ANDREWS               1 All the goals were scored in the second half as Sliema Wanderers came from a goal down to beat fellow top-flight side St Andrews 3-1 at the Hibernians Stadium. St Andrews took the leasd courtesy of Kevaughn Atkinson in the first minute of the second half but Nicolae Milinceanu was quick to level for Sliema in the 49th minute. Frank Temile’s close-range tap-in put the Wanderers 2-1 up 10 minutes from time. The Nigerian then released Jefferson de Assis Estacio who scored with a low shot to secure Sliema’s win in stoppage time. Sliema will meet the Ħamrun Spartans in the Last 16. BIRKIRKARA 5SANTA LUCIA 0 Birkirkara proved too strong for BOV Second Division side Santa Lucia, winning 5-0 at the Victor Tedesco Stadium. Luke Montebello opened the scoring on 23 minutes and Jake Grech doubled Birkirkara’s lead just past the half-hour. A minute into the second half, Montebello got a third goal and added another on the hour to complete his hat-trick. Debutant Gianluca Zammit, the son of Birkirkara coach Paul Zammit, grabbed the fifth goal 13 minutes from time. In the fourth round, Birkirkara will meet First Division side San Ġwann.