Msida set up Tarxien clash after easy win

Msida St Joseph 3
Calcado 16; A. Farrugia 86; Camilleri 90
San Ġwann 0

Premier League side Msida St Joseph eased into the second round of the U*Bet FA Trophy with a comfortable 3-0 win over Division One team San Ġwann. The Saints will meet Tarxien in the next round.

Patrick Curmi, the Msida coach, left several regular players, the likes of Adrian Farrugia, Dino Cachia, Stefano Grima, Chris Camilleri and Kenneth Spiteri, on the bench but his team were always in control against San Ġwann who, to their credit, tried hard to give their opponents a good run for their money.

It was only in the last minutes that the first division outfit threw in the towel after they conceded two soft goals.

Msida dominated possession for long spells but were erratic up front. They might have paid the price for their wasteful finishing early in the second half when San Ġwann went all out in search of an equaliser.

Msida went close after only two minutes when Pedro Calcado produced an intelligent pass to set up Marcos Aurelio who brought a good save from Justin Spiteri.

On 16 minutes, Calcado opened the scoring for Msida, beating Spiteri with a fine shot from a free-kick.

Curmi's men continued to attack and on 21 minutes, Kevin Mifsud headed just wide from Calcado's corner. Two minutes later, Kurt Magro concluded a fine run with a rising effort that sailed over the crossbar.

Msida's dominance persisted as the first half moved on. Nine minutes from half-time, another well-taken free-kick from Calcado brought the best out of Spiteri. Three minutes later, San Ġwann threatened for the first time when Antoine Zahra dribbled his way into Msida's box but his final attempt just missed the target.

Two minutes into the second half, San Ġwann gave Msida a fright by coming agonisingly close to an equaliser. A cross-shot by Lee Cumbo hit the post with Msida goalkeeper Matthew Camilleri beaten.

Msida regrouped immediately and on 53 minutes, Tyrone Farrugia headed narrowly wide from a Calcado cross. Two minutes later, the skilful Brazilian tried his luck with another free-kick with the ball finishing just wide.

Midway through the second half, Aurelio produced a good drive on the turn but the San Ġwann custodian managed to turn the ball away for a corner.

Fifteen minutes from time, Spiteri made an excellent save to deny Magro. The latter's well-hit volley seemed destined to finish in the top-left corner of the net but up went Spiteri to push the ball away.

San Ġwann stepped up their efforts in the final minutes and Sergio Hili almost managed to level matters but Camilleri saved his attempt.

Msida killed the match four minutes from time when an Adrian Farrugia free-kick was fumbled by Spiteri who lost his composure under pressure from Tyrone Farrugia.

Chris Camilleri sealed Msida's win two minutes into stoppage time when he curled the ball into the net from just inside the box.

Msida
M. Camilleri, E. Navarro ('85 J. Scerri), S. Vella, T. Farrugia, A. Spiteri, A. Da Silva, K. Mifsud ('74 A. Farrugia), M. Aurelio, K. Magro, P. Calcado, M. Camilleri ('62 C. Camilleri).

San Ġwann
J. Spiteri, M. Caruana, R. Newell ('77 R. Zammit), M. Francica, C. Giordemaina, A. Borg, C. Cuschieri ('64 A. Spiteri), L. Cumbo, S. Hili, A. Zahra, A. Firaz.

Referee: Kevin Azzopardi.

Yellow cards: Cumbo; Mifsud.