Nine-man Saints through

Sannat Lions 1
Rais 51
St Patrick 2
Milovanovic 31; Bugeja 76

St Patrick are through to the second round of the FA Trophy after eliminating GFA champions Sannat Lions despite finishing the match with nine players after a red card and an injury to their goalkeeper having already effected all three substitutions.

Debutants Sannat played admirably in their bid to prolong their stay in the competition but did not manage to take advantage of the Saints' woes late in the game. Also, the Gozitans lacked the required resources at this level and only had four substitutes on the bench. None of them was utilized.

It was Sannat who did the early running at the Tedesco Stadium and after only six minutes Nikolai Filipov saw his shot from just inside the box stopped by keeper James Mercieca.

Division One outfit St Patrick tried to hit back and relied mostly on their men on the flanks but the Sannat rearguard, well marshalled by Mario Azzopardi, weathered the storm.

On 28 minutes, the Lions went close again following a quick counter attack but Sabri Rais headed badly from close range.

On the half hour, Yanis Tonna was on the right spot to meet a Daniel Milovanovic delivery but his shot from close in was saved by Sannat's Paul Galea.

A minute later the Saints forged ahead when a persistent move by Luke Sciberras finished with the same player having his shot cleared off the line by Azzopardi but from the rebound Milovanovic hit home from routine distance.

Sannat hit back strongly and a couple of minutes later an Azzopardi header from a Jason Portelli corner flashed past the Saints' post.

The Gozitans upped their pace but had to wait until the 51st minute to draw level when a Rais header hit the back of the net following an inviting pass from Portelli.

A Fernando de Andrade free-kick almost put the Gozitans in front as the Saints suffered a blow when Simon Zerafa was red-carded for a foul on Filipov.

However, despite the setback the Saints did not throw in the towel and regained the lead on 76 minutes thanks to Bronwen Bugeja whose header from a Mark Pullicino centre gave the Sannat keeper no chance.

Two minutes before time St Patrick had keeper Mercieca leaving the field after sustaining a facial injury. His place in goal was taken by defender Pullicino with the Saints having to continue with nine men as all three substitutions were already made.

And it was Pullicino who saved the day for the Saints when deep into stoppage time he was on the right spot to keep out a Portelli free-kick that seemed destined to hit the back of the net.

Sannat Lions
P. Galea, M. Formosa, S. Rais, M. Azzopardi, N. Micallef, F. De Andrade, F. Debono, J. Portelli, B. Njoku, K. Loughborough, N. Filipov.

St Patrick
J. Mercieca, S. Dimech, M. Fleri Soler, M. Pullicino, S. Zerafa, Y. Tonna ('72 R. Cassar), D. Milovanovic, R. Mifsud, L. Sciberras ('46 T. Caruana, '54 J. Farrugia), B. Bugeja, G. Failla.

Referee: Esther Azzopardi.

Yellow cards: Debono, Bugeja.

Red card: Zerafa (SP) 59.