Qormi Poiatti 3
Lightshop Hotsticks 2
A typical cup tie was played at a high tempo from start to finish.
Qormi went ahead when they were awarded a penalty corner in the seventh minute and Juan Sarcia netted.
A minute later, Shamison Mifsud, Qormi’s custodian, produced a diving save to push away a goalbound shot from a Hotsticks penalty corner action.
The game turned on its head with Hotsticks scoring twice in as many minutes through Steve Portelli, the first in the 18th minute as a result of a penalty corner action and the second three minutes later with a reverse hit from the top of the D.
Tight man-to-man marking was the order of the day for the rest of the half which saw Hotsticks retain their 2-1 lead.
Qormi started the second half showing more determination and exerting more pressure on the Hotsticks rearguard. In the 42nd minute, Sarcia grabbed his second from a penalty corner action to level the score at 2-2.
After Qormi missed a chance on 58 minutes, Thomas Degiovanni shot them ahead two minutes later, taking advantage after a prolonged melee inside the D.
Qormi then kept Hotsticks at bay by defending deep but a minute from time, Hotsticks won a penalty corner. Mifsud again pulled off a fine save to preserve Qormi’s lead.
Umpires: James Mizzi, Raymond Micallef.
Young Stars 4
Laferla White Hart 1
Young Stars and White Hart were aware of the result of the previous semi-final and also knew that a win would hand them the opportunity to represent Malta in next year’s European competitions.
The game got off to a nervous start.
It was Young Stars who had the upperhand, however, and in what looked like an innocuous penalty corner, Chris Bonello met Mark Camilleri’s drag push to put his team ahead.
Young Stars kept pressing but in a counter-attack, White Hart’s Hayes hit wide off the post for Jonathan Pace to tap and level matters.
The second half saw more of the same with both teams making wholesome changes to try and turn things around.
In fact, it was young Jamie Mifsud who forced White Hart custodian Ramon Chircop into an excellent double save but the Young Stars player hit home from the rebound to sweep his team in front.
White Hart pressed for the equaliser but it was Young Stars who scored twice late on from counter-attacks.
The first came from Chris Bonello and just before the final whistle, Mifsud got his second and his team’s fourth, putting the result well beyond White Hart.
Umpires: Reno Cremona, Keith Calleja.