Floriana 0
Lija Athletic 1

Division One pacesetters Lija eliminated big guns Floriana from the FA Trophy yesterday with Abdullahi Adeshina Ige scoring the goal that mattered in his team’s stunning feat.

The first half was a total boredom with Floriana having most of the possession but to no avail.

Lija went close with a Peter Oladotun volley from an acute angle and on another occasion Rosalino de Almeida dallied his pass to the unmarked Oladotun and the danger was cleared by the Floriana defence.

A minute before the break a Carl Tremarco shot finished just wide of the Lija goal and seconds later Duncan Pisani lobbed the ball just over the bar following some good Tremarco work on the left flank.

Ige scored the only goal of the match on 52 minutes when he fired the ball home from just inside the area after an inviting pass from Beppe Antignolo.

Floriana hit back with a Clyde Borg shot that was stopped by Luke Bonnici.

On 72 minutes a Mark Spiteri volley from the edge of the area was saved by the Lija keeper and at the other end Ige hit the side-netting with a grounder.

A minute from time Lija should have put the game to bed when De Almeida was freed inside the Greens box but he failed to beat Tony Warner from a good position.

Floriana: T. Warner, K. Farrugia, C. Tremarco, O. Bugeja (67 S. Borg), T. Paris (59 M. Spiteri) , T. Cilia (73 L. Casha), G. Roberts, I. Coronado, D. Pisani, B. Farrugia, C. Borg.

Lija: L. Bonnici, C. Giordmaina, M. Fleri Soler, D. Scerri, D. Vukovic, P. Oladotun (70 E. Beu), E. Briffa, A. Scicluna, B. Antignolo, A. Ige (90 T. Fleri Soler), R. De Almeida.

Referee: Chris Lautier.