Senglea on song after surprise cup win

St Patrick 1
Senglea Athletic 4
(aet; score after 90 mins: 1-1)

Cup ties are famed for passion, surprises and for underdogs to topple the big guns. Yesterday, First Division side Senglea Athletic pulled off the first upset of this year's cup competition by surpassing the first round at the expense of Premier League club St Patrick.

With the encounter going into extra time, Senglea turned the tables on their opponents with a second goal in the first additional 15 minutes and two late strikes on the stroke of time to achieve a memorable victory.

After seven consecutive defeats in the league campaign, Borislav Giorev, the St Patrick coach, will have had his sights firmly set on victory in the hope of lifting the mood in his clan.

Despite their negative record in the league, the Saints started as firm favourites to clinch a second round berth but this was not to be as the diligent Senglea sprung to life in extra time to notch a merited win.

Following their 7-2 drubbing against Birkirkara last Sunday, Giorev made several changes to the first XI. Maurizio Vallastro returned to guard the Saints goal whereas Thomas Caruana was assigned to partner Peter Anizoba Chizoba up front.

After ten minutes, Gordon Failla's free-kick, hit from outside the penalty area, sailed dangerously close to the crossbar.

With the first half played at a relatively slow tempo, goalmouth action was at a premium with both goalkeepers having little to do. With everything pointing to a goalless first half, Senglea took the lead with their first decent attempt at goal on 43 minutes.

The strike owed everything to the skill of Kenneth Abela who powered down the left flank, leaving an opponent in his trail before he calmly planted a curling shot into the net.

Senglea came tantalisingly close to doubling their tally five minutes into the second half. Farrugia put his free-kick skills to the test as his effort skimmed the far post.

Close to the hour, the Saints levelled the score. Mark Tanti did all the spade work on the flank as his shot was partially repelled by George Attard only for Nigerian Anizoba Chizoba to tap the ball into an empty net.

St Patrick were now enjoying the upperhand, displaying some fluid football although ironically their opponents had the better scoring opportunities.

The Yellow-Reds, of late more famous for their rowing success in the traditional regattas rather than their exploits on the football field, nearly surged ahead again against the run of play on 64 minutes. Bonello fired a point-blank shot which required a reflex save from Vallastro.

In the final quarter, Senglea striker Bonello again had a golden opportunity to beat Vallastro but he hesitated a second too long and the Saints guardian just managed to dive at his feet and divert the ball to safety.

Nine minutes into the first period of extra time, Senglea stormed into the lead. The Saints underestimated a seemingly harmless ball as Abela served Glenn Bonello who slotted the ball past Vallastro's clutches.

The Saints tried to restore equilibrium through a well-taken corner by Sandro Costa Brazilino that was well met by Anizoba whose header was tipped over the crossbar by an alert Attard.

With the Senglea goalie sustaining injury, the referee allowed a staggering five-and-a-half minutes of added time.

In the second period of extra time, St Patrick tried hard to save the match but things took a turn for the worse when Clayton Failla had to abandon the pitch for most of the final period of extra time with a knee injury while Simon Zerafa was expelled for dissent two minutes from time.

This handicap enabled the Cottonera side to seal qualification with two late goals through substitute Silvio Sciberras and Bonello.

St Patrick: M. Vallastro, P. Muscat ('80 A. Buhagiar), R. Cassar, D. Gauci, M. Tanti, C. Failla, G. Failla ('46 S. Costa Brazilino), T. Caruana, L. Bartolo ('46 S. Zerafa), B. Fenech, P. Anizoba Chizoba.

Senglea: G. Attard, D. Aquilina, S. Aquilina, T. Thomas ('71 S. Sciberras), L. McKay, E. Bobolayefa, G. Bonello, K. Abela ('106 A. Stivala), G. Magri, D. Grech, A. Farrugia.

Referee: Alan Mario Sant.

Scorers: Abela 43; Anizoba 58; Bonello 99,120; Sciberras 120.

Yellow Cards: Gauci; Farrugia; Fenech; Anizoba; Vallastro.

Red Card: Simon Zerafa 118.