Vella the hero in shoot-out

Mellieħa 0
Siġġiewi 0
(aet; Mellieħa win 4-3 on penalties)

Mellieħa progressed to the fourth round of the U*Bet FA Trophy after battling past Siġġiewi 4-3 on penalties.

This was the second time that Mellieħa moved through to the next round on penalties and without scoring a goal. In fact in the previous round they had beaten Melita 4-3 after a shoot-out.

Mellieħa goalkeeper James Abela was the hero for the Northerners after saving the first two penalties taken by Siġġiewi’s Pierre Spiteri and Brian Galea to put his side on their way to victory.

The match between the two Second Division sides could have been settled well before extra-time as both teams had their scoring opportunities.

Mellieħa could have scored twice in the opening five minutes. First Albert Aquilina saw his effort tipped onto the bar by goalkeeper Jonathan Vella while minutes later Matthew Vella was denied by the Siġġiewi goalkeeper following a William Borg delivery.

Siġġiewi responded on 32 minutes when Eman Ciappara was through on goal but was thwarted by Abela.

The second half produced few scoring opportunities.

Aquilina saw his header blocked by Vella while Kyle Simiana’s shot drifted just wide.

Siġġiewi could have snatched a dramatic winner late on but Jason Camilleri fired wide from routine distance.

With no goals scored at the end of the 90 minutes extra-time had to be played.

Mellieħa could have taken the lead on 96 minutes when Borg hit just over the bar after some good play from Tiago Loquete,

The Mellieħa forward threatened again on 103 minutes when Borg’s drive from inside the area was saved by Vella.

Both teams failed to score until the final whistle so penalties had to decide the winner.

Here, Mellieħa’s goalkeeper Vella took centre stage with two excellent saves with Matthew Vella converting the all-important penalty that put the Northerners through.

Mellieħa: J. Abela, M. Borg, M. Vella, W. Buttigieg, B. Bartolo, W. Borg, K. Fenech, K. Gauci, K. Simiana (J. Vella), A. Aquilina, T. Loquete .

Siġġiewi: J. Vella, I. Darmanin (P. Spiteri), M. Deguara, B. Galea, E. Vella, M. Bajada, E. Ciappara (J. Vassallo), S. Delia, J. Shead, J. Camilleri, N. Camilleri.

Referee: Jude Utulu.

Penalty sequence

Spiteri (S) saved 0-0; W. Borg (M) scores 0-1; Galea (S) saved 0-1; Buttigieg (M) scores 0-2; Vassallo scores (S) 1-2; Loquete (M) scores 1-3; Delia (S) scores 2-3; Fenech (M) saved 2-3; J. Camilleri (S) scores 3-3; M. Vella (M) scores 3-4.