Goalkeeper Brian Baldacchino was the hero of the night as Ħamrun Spartans won the first game of the Gatorade Elite Round final play-off following a penalty shoot-out victory over Valletta.
Baldacchino, back-up to injured regular Clint Mifsud, saved the final spot-kick taken by Valletta’s Daniel Brincat as Ħamrun won the shoot-out 7-6 after normal time ended with both teams locked on a 6-6 stalemate.
The sizeable crowd at the pavilion witnessed a dramatic match, a rollercoaster of emotions and excitement.
The Citizens grabbed an early lead when Dejan Bizjak took advantage of a Spartans defensive blunder to turn and shoot past Baldacchino.
However, the Spartans reacted immediately and did well to turn the tide in their favour with goals from Madson Caetano and Michel Melo Jose.
League top-scorer Raphinha added two more goals for Ħamrun but Valletta reduced the gap before the interval as Xavier Saliba’s piledriver flew past Baldacchino.
The Whites started the second half in style, goals from Cristian Cuadros Silva and Bizjak bringing them level again at four-all.
The match was tight as Ħamrun regained their composure and Raphinha completed his hat-trick with Andy Mangion making it 6-4.
Ħamrun looked to be heading for victory until Valletta staged a dramatic comeback. Slovenian striker Bizjak and Dylan Musu levelled the scores at 6-6.
Penalties were needed to determine the winner and after the two teams expertly converted their first six spot-kicks, balance swung in favour of the Spartans when Brincat saw his shot repelled by Baldacchino.
The second match will be played today week.
Wanderers on top
In the First Division, Sliema Wanderers achieved their goal as they topped the league following a straightforward 7-3 win over Sirens.
The Wanderers made sure of victory in the second half when they profited from some hesitant play from their opponents.
Sliema established a double advantage with goals from Christian Micallef and Eslam Khalifa but Leonard Zammit narrowed the gap for Sirens.
The Blues hit back and Darren Agius made it 3-1 before Andy Portelli kept Sirens in the match with a timely goal before half-time.
But, Sliema saw more of the ball in the second half, hitting the target four times – through Dexter O’Brien, Aleksandar Ribic and a Khalifa double.
Sirens opted for the flying keeper in the dying minutes but only managed to score one goal thanks to Antoine Galea as the Wanderers held out for the win.
At the end of the match, Mark Borg, FMA president, presented the trophy to Sliema captain Juergen Mifsud.