Late Sultana goal rescues Spartans

Hamrun Spartans 2
St George's 1

Hamrun Spartans required a late goal from substitute Stefan Sultana to topple Division One high-flyers St George's in a keenly contested cup tie at the Centenary Stadium.

Trailing to Anthony Ewurum's goal in the first half and shorn of any creative ideas, the Spartans looked like heading to an early exit in this season's FA Trophy until a second-half revival shifted the tide in their favour.

Missing the injured Rupert Mangion, Ryan Fenech and Maczerob Okoro, and with veteran Ivan Zammit on the subs' bench, the Spartans struggled with the sprightly pace of their opponents.

St George's had an excellent Emanuel Sevasta shadowing prolific scorer Gaetan Spiteri while up front the skilful running and passing of Silvio Sciberras and Ewurum proved a handful for the Spartans' defence to handle.

The team from Cospicua took the lead just before the half-hour mark and could have easily doubled the score had Ewurum not fluffed a good chance after the Nigerian stalled when through because of a non-existent offside position.

In the second half, the Saints ran out of steam and hardly ever tested the Spartans goalkeeper. Their thinking that a solitary goal could be enough to send them through proved costly as the Premier League battlers rallied with two second-half goals that propelled them to the second round.

On ten minutes the Spartans carved a good move as Mansueto delivered an inch-perfect cross towards the unmarked Briffa whose shot failed to trouble Andrea Gatt in the Saints' goal.

Just after the first quarter, Ewurum drifted down the right and sent the ball towards the centre for the surging Sciberras who just failed to connect.

On 27 minutes, Spiteri tested Gatt with a powerful drive from the edge of the penalty area which was repelled by the Saints' netminder.

A minute later, the Saints took the lead. Sciberras slid the ball towards Ewurum who persisted inside the Spartans box before planting a low drive that flew past Cordina.

Reeling in shock, Hamrun nearly succumbed to a second goal before the end of the first half.

Sciberras whipped in an inviting pass towards Ewurum who did well to beat the offside trap but hesitated a second too long and shot wide.

Both teams were forced into an early second-half substitution after Galea and Spiteri towered for the ball and clashed in mid-air. The two fell awkwardly on the ground and had to be replaced with the Hamrun player stretchered off for further medical attention.

On 52 minutes, Hamrun substitute Diego Cucciardi nearly levelled the score with a menacing cross-shot that hit the post.

This was a prelude to the Spartans' equaliser which duly arrived on 63 minutes.

The goal owed much to Nwan-kwo's persistence on the left as the Nigerian delivered a seemingly harmless cross towards goal. Goalkeeper Gatt fumbled his sortie and Spiteri converted the easiest of chances with a simple tap-in - 1-1.

With some lively exchanges, the match matured into a keen and balanced encounter. On 65 minutes, the Saints only managed to partially clear Borg's corner and Sadowski flashed in with a rasping grounder that was ably saved by Gatt.

Shy of the last quarter, the Saints created an isolated chance through Brincat who tried his luck from outside the penalty area. His effort was easily dealt with by Cordina.

Seven minutes from time, Sultana scored what turned out to be the match-winner. The veteran striker unleashed a scorching shot from outside the penalty area which stunned Gatt and put Hamrun in front.

On the stroke of time, St George's nearly forced extra-time after Ewurum beat his marker and served the ball towards the unmarked Darmanin on the edge of the box but the latter's shot narrowly missed Cordina's goal.

Despite nearly six minutes of stoppage time, St George's never really tested Cordina and Hamrun held nervously on to overcome a tricky hurdle.

Hamrun: J. Cordina, J. Magri Overend, J. Debattista, P. Ndah, D. Galea ('51 S. Sultana), S. Sadowski, E. Briffa ('46 D. Cucciardi), A. Mansueto, K. Borg, C. Nwankwo, G. Spiteri.

St George's: A. Gatt, L. Lagana ('66 C. Grech), J. Spiteri ('51 E. Degabriele), J. Delia, E. Sevasta, A. Bonello, P. Muscat, K. Darmanin, S. Sciberras, C. Brincat, A. Ewurum.

Referee: J. Attard.

Scorers: Ewurum 28; Spiteri 63, Sultana 83.

Yellow Cards: Sciberras, Cuc-Ciardi, Sadowski.