When the draw for the 1948-49 FA Trophy was made, only two first division teams were pitted against each other in the first round.
All second division clubs, with the exception of Melita, fared badly on that occasion.
Melita lost to Hibernians but the Amateurs put up a brave fight before their resistance was broken late in the game.
Ħamrun routed Mosta Athletic 5-1 while Luqa St Andrew’s beat Birkirkara United 3-2. Naxxar Lions ousted Vittoriosa Lions 2-0 but the match between Sliema Wanderers and Senglea Athletic didn’t take place as the latter did not turn up.
The only tie involving second division teams ended in a 5-1 victory for Rabat against Birżebbuġa St Peter’s.
By now, Floriana’s experiment with the Ajax players had started to bear fruit.
The Ajax’s style of football began to attract huge crowds to the stadium but they were still too young for the hurly-burly of league football. They still lacked an answer to a team that opted for physical play to put them off their game.
Among the fans on the terraces, there were some who argued that Floriana had erred when adopting such drastic changes in the team. However, their doubts vanished when the Greens beat St George’s 4-0 in the first round of the Trophy.
In the quarter-finals, Floriana met the Spartans who took an early lead.
But Floriana’s fast and methodical football was not disrupted and they turned defeat into a 2-1 victory.
Floriana’s next match was against Luqa in the semi-finals. After a somewhat tame first half, the score was still 2-1.
George Shaw then gave his youngsters a pep talk at half-time and straight from kick-off, the Greens turned on full steam.
Playing delightful football, they devastated the Luqa defence, winning 8-1 to claim a place in the final against the Wanderers.
The final was played on June 16. It took Floriana only 15 minutes to pierce the Sliema defence... a Tony Vella free-kick was lifted into the net by Lolly Borg.
After that, Sliema applied some pressure but the Greens’ defenders were confident and solid as a rock. On 23 minutes, another free-kick, taken by Leli Zammit, created a scramble in the Sliema box and full-back Borg miskicked the ball into his own net.
In the second half, Sliema attacked relentlessly and pulled one back when Johnnie Alamango panicked and headed the ball past his own goalkeeper.
It seemed that the experienced Sliema players would turn the tide in their favour.
Floriana, however, battled on.
Discarding their usual pretty tip-tapping moves, they adopted cup-tie tactics and started to play the ball first time with accurate crosses to the centre which constantly caught Sliema on the wrong foot.
Lolly Borg, then still in his teens, scored two more goals to complete his hat-trick and another goal by Charlie Azzopardi compounded Sliema’s humiliation.
Shaw must have been very proud of his boys that day. The youngsters outpaced the Wanderers and the final 5-1 scoreline reflected their superiority.
It was a great performance by the greatest club side ever seen in Maltese football in my opinion. Everyone played his part in the team but pride of place went to Vella.
His passes, free-kicks and roaming inspired the Greens to one of their best showings.