St Andrew’s 0
Lija Athletic 1
T. Fleri Soler 14;
It is often said that every game has its own story.
Eight days ago, St Andrew’s thrashed Lija Athletic 8-3 in a league match but, when the two sides met again in the U*Bet FA Trophy quarter-final yesterday, Lija made sure that such a bizarre result didn’t happen again thanks to a solid defence and a well-executed gameplan.
Both sides had their chances but Lija deserved their victory, making history by reaching the semi-finals of the FA Trophy for the first time ever.
Erjon Beu was again in tremendous form for Lija while goalkeeper Luke Bonnici produced a flawless performance.
St Andrew’s had their moments with Michael Grima playing well but the pair of Trayo Grozev and Rumen Kerekov failed to reproduce their terrific display which tore Lija apart in their previous meeting.
It was St Andrew’s who began to play the better football, making inroads on the left flank where Timothy Fleri Soler had to be very alert to repel the danger. After 10 minutes, Bonnici fisted away William Camilleri’s drive from outside the area. From the rebound, the Lija custodian stopped Grozev’s shot.
Yet, the Saints unexpectedly found themselves behind as Lija took the lead on 14 minutes. Timothy Fleri Soler relied on his strength and height to send a firm header into the net from a Beu corner.
Wayne Attard’s men looked stunned and Lija started to control the game.
They could have increased their lead on a couple of occasions. In the 19th minute, it was Abdullahi Adeshina Ige who just missed the target by a whisker in front of goal after a Beu free-kick was partially saved by Matthew Towns, the St Andrew’s goalkeeper.
Five minutes later, it was Beu again who tormented the Saints defence. Getting on the end of a Beppe Antignolo free-kick, the Albanian hit the side-netting from the right side.
On the half-hour, Lija came close again when Beu dribbled past Towns following a good Leontiev Konda move but Ben Diacono managed to clear the ball off the line.
Having preserved their lead until half-time, Lija threatened again 14 minutes into the second half. Antignolo’s close-range header, after a good move by Antoine Sacco and Beu, brought a superb save from Towns.
St Andrew’s responded on 64 minutes when Peter Anizoba beat the offside trap to latch on to a Grozev pass but the Nigerian shot straight at the goalkeeper.
With 15 minutes to go, Lija’s Clayton Giordmaina made a goal-line clearance after Anizoba got a touch to the ball in a goalmouth melee.
Nine minutes from time, Beu tried his luck from well outside the area but his grounder was saved by Towns.
With three minutes left, Beu made a fine run as he advanced to the right-corner flag before beating four players, including keeper Towns, but his shot was cleared by Diacono for the second time in the match.
St Andrew’s
M. Towns, N. Chetcuti, J. Diacono, B. Said, M. Johnson (71 M. Desira Buttigieg), W. Camilleri, J. Farrugia, N. Vella Petroni, M. Grima (57 P. Anizoba), R. Kerekov, T. Grozev.
Lija Athletic
L. Bonnici, C. Giordmaina, T. Fleri Soler (90 R. Goncalves), M. Fleri Soler, D. Scerri, E. Beu, L. Konda (54 A. Mercieca), A. Scicluna, B. Antignolo, A. Ige, A. Sacco (78 D. Vukovic).
Referee: Philip Farrugia
Yellow cards: Chetcuti; Grima; Johnson.
Attendance: 622.