All-Maltese Youths humble Saints

Balzan Youths 5
Shead 33, 60; Agius 50, 61; Bondin 90
Msida St Joseph 0

Balzan Youths served up an excellent advert for Division One football yesterday when they advanced to the second round of the FA Trophy with a crushing 5-0 win over Premier League side Msida St Joseph.

Although Msida are anything but the most glamorous team in the top flight, they were still fancied to win this tie but Balzan had other ideas.

Showing excellent tactical organisation, Balzan relied on a sound work ethic and the brisk running of forwards Simon Shead and captain Aaron Agius to run rings around their wretched opponents.

Balzan's success takes on added value when one considers that their squad was made up entirely of Maltese players as Nigerian Peter Anizoba, the only foreigner in their ranks, was ruled out by injury.

Two old faces of Maltese football, Ivan Zammit and David Carabott, are also on the books of Balzan and their experience came in handy yesterday.

Now 37, Zammit, Balzan's player-coach, has never been the fastest player around but his tactical nous and elegant footwork more than compensate for his lack of speed. Carabott, 41, came on as a second-half substitute.

Msida sorely felt the absence of Tyrone Farrugia and Zoran Levnaic who are recovering from minor injuries.

The first noteworthy chance fell to Msida after five minutes. Karl Ebejer advanced through the middle but his shot sailed wide.

On 13 minutes, the Balzan defence partially repelled Adrian Farrugia's free-kick, the ball broke to Emiliano Lattes but his effort was off target.

Msida's failure to deal with a Zammit clearance yielded an opening for Shead who swept past Stefano Grima but his attempt lacked precision.

In their next raid, Balzan fluffed a great opportunity to take the lead. Clayton Caruana unhinged the Msida defence before guiding a pass to Agius. The Balzan captain had an unobstructed view of goal but his effort was pushed away by Manuel Bartolo.

Three minutes past the half-hour, Balzan forged ahead. Zammit swung in a set-piece cross from the left and Shead nipped past the Msida defenders to head past Bartolo.

In no time, Shead threatened again. With the Msida defence at sea, he latched on to a long pass and managed to lob the on-rushing Bartolo but Cedric Sciberras was on hand to head the ball clear.

Balzan went in for the half-time break one goal to the good but within five minutes of the restart, they had doubled their advantage.

David Fenech again exposed Msida's defensive flaws as his reverse pass from outside the box rolled into the path of Agius who fired past Bartolo.

Msida looked shell-shocked. Profiting from a misunderstanding in Msida's midfield, Fenech surged clear but his tame effort was easily blocked by the keeper.

Yet, Msida's reprieve was temporary. On the hour mark, Agius exchanged passes with Fenech and cut in from the right before he released Shead who hammered in.

Just over a minute later, Balzan made it 4-0. Agius dribbled his way through and slotted the ball home, much to the delight of his team-mates and club president George Borg in the stands.

Four goals down, Msida knew that the game was as good as over. Their reaction was sterile and with 14 minutes left, it was Balzan who came close to a fifth goal. Fenech squared to Matthew Sciortino, who had replaced Caruana, but the latter hit wide with the goal at his mercy.

At the other end, Aganun blasted high after receiving a pass from substitute Andrew Formosa.

In stoppage time, Balzan extended their winning margin when Simon Aquilina's through-ball from midfield seeped into the path of Bjorn Bondin who sidestepped Msida substitute keeper Daniel Borda and poked the ball into the net.

Balzan Youths
F. Tabone ('82 J. Galea), R. Farrugia, I. Zammit, C. Micallef, D. Fenech, S. Aquilina, B. Bondin, R. Forace, C. Caruana ('73 M. Sciortino), A. Agius ('65 D. Carabott), S. Shead.

Msida St Joseph
M. Bartolo ('73 D. Borda), C. Sciberras, E. Lattes, A. Farrugia, A. Spiteri, K. Ebejer ('43 L. Micallef), K. Mifsud ('55 A. Formosa), O. Aganun, R. Baldacchino, S. Grima, I. Curmi.

Referee: Clayton Pisani.

Yellow cards: Aquilina; Spiteri; Formosa.