Victoria Hotspurs 0
Pieta Hotspurs 1

Pieta are through to the FA Trophy quarter-finals after beating Gozitan team Victoria Hotspurs 1-0 yesterday.

Pieta produced the better play for most of the match but only managed to pierce the Victoria defence once from a penalty midway through the first half.

During the opening stages, Pieta looked more adventurous, particularly through Luke Micallef who had two good attempts stopped by goalkeeper Matthew Vella.

Pieta were awarded a penalty on 22 minutes for a foul by Ferdinando Apap on Micallef and Jurgen Pisani scored from the spot.

Minutes later Micallef had a powerful shot stopped by Vella as the Hotspurs tried to add more pressure on their opponents even though Nikola Vasilic could have drawn the teams level but failed to conclude from a good position.

Pieta were determined to dash Victoria’s aspirations after the break with a second goal but they were erratic in their finishing.

Ricardo Costa hit badly on two occasions and 18 minutes from time Micallef failed to score with an open goal at his mercy.

With Pieta becoming edgy, the Gozitan team gained more in confidence and also threatened to cancel their opponents’ slim lead only for substitute Antoine Camilleri to see his shot blocked.

Late on, Pieta keeper Miguel Montfort kept his side in the lead when he managed to stop Tayou’s shot from the distance.

Victoria Hotspurs: M. Vella, M. Buhagiar, F. Apap, M. Bamba (J. Pace), D. Farrugia, J.F. Aguiar, J. Ikeokwu, N. Vasilic, D. Tayou, J. Bajada, D. Mercieca (A. Camilleri).

Pieta Hotspurs: M. Montfort, K. Micallef, C. Grech, L. Fortunato Dos Santos, J. Pisani, O. Anonam (C. Stewart), D. Agius (R. Costa), G.J. Da Silva, C. Fra-ces, L.E. Micallef (K. Cesare), R. Rodrigues Da Silva.

Referee: T. Farrugia Cann.