Birthday boy Zammit hits treble

Vittoriosa Stars 0
Valletta 3
Zammit 20, 50, 85

Ian Zammit celebrated his 23rd birthday in style yesterday as the Valletta striker scored a hat-trick to steer Valletta into the quarter-finals of the National League 100 Anniversary Cup.

After steamrollering Gozo FC 7-0 in their third round match, Valletta were offered a sterner challenge by Vittoriosa Stars but still had too much ammunition for the Cottonera team who battled gamely but lacked the firepower to trouble their much-vaunted opponents.

Valletta's passage to the last eight was never in dispute from the moment Zammit, making his first start in several weeks, put his team 2-0 up five minutes into the second half.

After their travails in their last three league outings, this match was another hassle-free affair for Valletta and coach Ton Caanen must have been happy with the way his players applied themselves, especially those who, like Zammit, have not seen much first-team action this season.

Caanen awarded a first-team recall to Gilbert Agius after injury kept the Valletta captain out of the match against Gozo FC. Agius was one of four changes from the City team that started Friday's stroll, the others being Steve Bezzina, Ian Zammit and Kevin Sammut.

Jordi Cruyff, Jamie Pace and Justin Grioli were named as substitutes while defender Kenneth Scicluna was absent from the 18-man squad.

Zammit was the attacking spearhead of City's 4-2-3-1 approach in which Sammit and Dyson Falzon were deployed on the wings and Dylan Grima in a central position behind Zammit.

Prudence was the order of the day for Vittoriosa Stars as coach Winston Muscat opted for a 4-5-1 strategy with Henry Makinwa encouraged to use his body strength and pace to keep the City defenders occupied.

The Citizens made most of the early running. They would have taken the lead after 10 minutes when Stefan Giglio leapt to meet an excellent right-wing cross from Falzon but Henry Bonello, the Vittoriosa goalkeeper, tipped the Valletta midfielder's header over the bar.

Seconds later, Bonello blocked a central shot from Falzon.

Makinwa unsettled Luke Dimech with two strong runs in the early stages. On both occasions, the Valletta defender resorted to fouls to stop the Nigerian striker.

Bonello made an easy save from Bezzina's low shot but after 19 minutes, Valletta opened the scoring. Latching on to Agius's short pass from a free-kick, Sammut darted into the box before sending in a low cross which prompted Giglio to backheel the ball towards the far post and the unmarked Zammit tapped home.

Nine minutes after their breakthrough, Valletta threatened to double their lead but Grima's close-range header sailed over the bar.

Vittoriosa offered nothing going forward in the first half but their resilience ensured that they kept the Citizens within sight, scoring-wise at least.

The Division One outfit's task became all the more complicated after five minutes of the second half as Valletta doubled their lead.

Grima's swerving cross from the right sailed towards the far post where Falzon's run had gone unchecked by the Vittoriosa defence. Falzon's downward header was parried away by Bonello but the loose ball fell to Zammit who poked it home from close range.

Bonello sprinted towards assistant referee Malcolm Mercieca, gesturing angrily that Zammit had been in an offside position but the assistant referee was unmoved. Referee Andrè Arciola booked the Vittoriosa goalkeeper.

With 21 minutes remaining, Makinwa threatened to drag Vittoriosa Stars back into the contention as the burly striker charged forward menacingly after being released by Vella. Valletta goalkeeper Nicky Vella lost his balance as he ran backwards but Makinwa's grounder was wide.

Suddenly, Vittoriosa gained courage. They came close to reducing the deficit when Leo Chitescu's set-piece cross flew towards substitute Johan Spiteri but the latter's header dropped wide of the near post.

The few fans who braved the biting cold and turned up for yesterday's match came to life in the latter stages of the second half as they began to exchange taunting chants.

Five minutes from the end, Zammit scored his third of the evening, this time with a backheader from Gilbert Agius's free-kick from the left.

Vittoriosa Stars
H. Bonello, J. Camilleri, J. Xerri, J. Chetcuti, B. Bonnici, B. Muscat, P. Camilleri ('58 J. Spiteri), L. Chitescu, E. Vella, C. Micallef ('65 M. Borg Olivier), H. Makinwa.

Valletta
N. Vella, R. Briffa, S. Bezzina, L. Dimech, S. Borg, G. Agius, D. Grima, S. Giglio ('78 T, Scerri), I. Zammit, D. Falzon ('69 E. Agius), K. Sammut ('68 K. Sammut).

Referee: Andre Arciola.
Yellow cards: Sammut; Bonello; Micallef; Briffa.