The two teams from the capital, Victoria Hotspurs and SK Victoria Wanderers, will contest the GFA Cup final on Friday following victories over Għajnsielem and Nadur Youngsters respectively.

The Hotspurs beat the Blacks 2-0 in the first semi-final with a goal in each half.

Għajnsielem were up to the challenge but the Reds controlled play and created better scoring opportunities. They took the lead on 42 minutes through a fine header by Martin Hanus.

Hotspurs keeper Mark Grima made some fine saves after the break to deny the Blacks until Hanus doubled the score ten minutes from time.

Grima was sent off three minutes from time for dissent and Għajnsielem's Charles Mercieca was also red carded in stoppage time for a second booking.

The Wanderers had a comfortable 4-0 victory over Nadur who started better and had a header by Shaun Muscat that hit the crossbar.

But player-coach Mark Buttigieg put the Wanderers ahead on 30 minutes and Nadur all but conceded defeat when they had Joseph Portelli sent off just before half-time for an off-the-ball incident.

The Wanderers made it 2-0 18 minutes from time following an own goal by Jonathan Said and they sealed the issue with two late goals from Ige Adesina and Ajibade Adesina.

In the league this season, the Hotspurs won two derbies while the Wanderers prevailed in the direct clash from the second round.

The GFA Cup winner will face league champions Sannat in Tuesday's Super Cup final.

Kerċem retain status

Kerċem Ajax retained their Division One status with a 4-1 victory over Xagħra United in a play-off. Kerċem avoided the drop from the top flight after finishing next-bottom in the standings while Xagħra just missed out on promotion after being pipped to the post by Xewkija Tigers.

Ajax made good use of their experience to beat Xagħra even though they had to play with nine men at one stage of the match.

Darko Stojanovic put Kerċem in front on 26 minutes but he prolonged his goal celebrations and got sent off to leave his team with ten players.

Xagħra never profited from the situation though but they got more wind in their sails on 53 minutes when Ajax had a second player, Josef Debrincat, dismissed for a second caution.

But this was not Xagħra's day as they never imposed superiority on their opponents and received a setback on 66 minutes when skipper Joseph Bartolo was also shown the red card. Kerċem grew in confidence and two minutes later Milan Cvetic made it 2-0 following a fast break.

Xagħra re-opened the issue on 82 minutes when guest player Eduardo do Nascimento headed home from close in. But, Kerċem soon re-established their two-goal lead through skipper Frankie Camilleri's goal. Camilleri then sealed the issue in stoppage time, concluding another fast break by Milos Stojanovic.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.