Treble dream fires City as Tarxien target first final

The top fixtures this weekend are a repeat of two of the Championship Pool matches on the final day of the 2010/11 BOV Premier League but the stakes are distinctly higher as a berth in the U*Bet FA Trophy final is up for grabs for the four contenders.

Uplifted by the enthusiasm exuded by their fans at last weekend’s title celebrations, champions Valletta will be striving to keep their treble bid alive when they take on Tarxien Rainbows in today’s opening semi-final at the National Stadium (5 p.m.).

If the Citizens are spurred on by a desire to make a clean sweep of the major honours, Tarxien are determined to set a club milestone by progressing to what would be their first final of a major competition.

The winner of the first semi-final will meet either Floriana or Birkirkara in the May 22 final with the latter two teams also harbouring high hopes of inscribing their name on the FA Trophy.

Having earned the coveted title as the new ‘invincibles’ of Maltese football on the back of their 28-match unbeaten sequence in the league, Valletta are seen as favourites to go all the way in the Trophy.

But if they needed a reminder about the difficulty of the task awaiting them this evening, they certainly got it last Saturday as Tarxien twice wiped out a one-goal deficit to hold the champions to a 2-2 draw.

For all the talk that Valletta had been somewhat lucky to avoid rivals Floriana and Birkirkara in the semi-finals, coach Jesmond Zerafa sees things differently.

“I’ve told the players that this game is more difficult than if we had drawn either Birkirkara or Floriana in the semi-finals,” Zerafa told The Times.

“Our motivation in the final three league games was not very good but we now have a Trophy semi-final to focus on and I believe we can win it.

“If we overcome Tarxien, then I would dare say that we’re the favourites for the Trophy but first we must win the semi-final. It’s going to be hard because Tarxien have a strong, collective team and their foreign players are very experienced.”

Valletta captain Gilbert Agius is out of the equation after pulling his hamstring last weekend but Zerafa has no other selection problems.

The City coach expects today’s semi-final to be very different from their league match against Tarxien last Saturday which was a largely dull affair.

“They are two different propositions,” Zerafa said of the two games. “When we played Tarxien last weekend, the championship had already been won and our target was to remain unbeaten and help Terrence Scerri win the top scorer’s award.

“The players did everything to help Terrence and this showed the unity in our squad. Terrence didn’t manage to reach his aim but we move on.

“We’re well prepared for this game and there’s a hunger to win the FA Trophy. The players have been impressed by the enthusiasm of the fans during the title celebrations and they want to experience that again but we all know it’s going to be a very difficult game.”

Victory today would take Valletta closer to completing a treble after they landed the Super Cup and Premier League.

Tarxien Rainbows coach Noel Coleiro has set his team the target of improving on their performance last season by booking a place in the final of the FA Trophy.

“We are exactly in the same position as we were at this time last season,” Coleiro said.

“We’ve finished fifth in the league with 23 points and reached the semi-finals of the Trophy. I’m always looking to improve on last season but to achieve that, we must beat the best team in the league.

“It’s difficult but not impossible. After our last game against Valletta, the players’ morale is high.

“The semi-final will be different from last weekend’s match for both sides. Perhaps, Valletta were the more motivated side last weekend because they wanted to finish the league unbeaten.

“Even in terms of absent players, it’s an even situation as it looks like Valletta will be without their captain Gilbert Agius and we have Everton (suspended) missing. Both are going to be missed because they are key players.

“The positive thing for us is that we have five foreign players in our squad.”

Valletta beat Hibs 1-0 in extra-time in the quarter-finals while Tarxien were 4-2 winners over Vittoriosa Stars.

Head to head record (league): Valletta vs Tarxien 5-2, 2-0, 1-0, 2-2.