Qala, Victoria Hotspurs to contest final

Qala St Joseph and Victoria Hotspurs will contest the 28th final of the Independence Cup in Gozo on Sunday following victories over holders Nadur Youngsters and SK Victoria Wanderers respectively in the semi-finals.

The Saints are in their second consecutive final after beating Nadur 2-1.

The Youngsters opened the scoring in the 33rd minute with a Jeffrey Meilaq goal but Qala levelled matters six minutes later from a Ricardo Saverino penalty.

Nadur lost their way after this goal and were reduced to 10 men just before half-time when Alex Simoncic was sent off for dissent.

First-half drama was not over though as tempers boiled over and the match was paused for three minutes after some players clashed in the middle of the pitch. Nadur had Josef Buttigieg red-carded and Qala's Saverino was also sent off.

The Maroons profited from the extra man after the break and midway through the half Eric Nkwankwo scored the decisive goal to put Qala in the final.

The Hotspurs, who beat Għajnsielem 2-1 in the quarter-finals, made it to the final after ousting the Wanderers 2-1.

Michael Vella gave the Hotspurs a 1-0 lead eight minutes before half-time and Manwel Cordina doubled the lead right on the hour following a fast break.

The Wanderers pulled one back in the fifth minute of stoppage time but it was too late for them to cancel the deficit and force extra-time.

Xagħra United and Oratory Youths are the finalists of the Powerade Division Two KO competition.

Xagħra cruised to a convincing 4-1 win over Żebbuġ Rovers.

The Blues went ahead through Joseph Sultana but Żebbuġ equalised on 43 minutes through Basil Chibueze.

However, there was only one team in it in the second half as Xagħra scored three times without reply thanks to Mark Buhagiar (46), Sultana (59) and Philip Attard (66).

Oratory edged St Lawrence 1-0, the winning goal coming in the first half of extra-time.

The Saints might have scored late on but Renzo Formosa hit wide in front of an open goal.

The decisive goal came in the 99th minute from a Kevin Grech penalty. The latter marred his day when he was red-carded, along with St Lawrence's Edward Grima, in the dying moments.