BALZAN           6

Correa 30, 58, 75

Kosorovic 34

Majdevac 38

Pisani 67

XEWKIJA TIGERS          1

Bogdanovic 15

Balzan fought back from a goal down to hit six past Gozitan side Xewkija Tigers and book their place into the quarter-finals of the FA Trophy.

The match had took a difficult path for the Reds as it was Xewkija who tookk the lead on 15 minutes.

Bozovic was penalized for handling the ball just the area and the Gozitans were awarded a direct free-kick from a somewhat angled position.

But that didn’t deter Daniel Bogdanovic as the former Malta striker let fly a fine inswinger that flew into the top corner of the net.

Balzan looked rattled and Xewkija almost doubled their lead four minutes later when Darko Stojanovic met Shaun Bajada’s corner but headed over.

Parity was restored on the half hour mark when Effiong burst through and picked Andrija Majdevac. The young Serbian striker set up Riccardo Correa who fired home to grab his second successive goal after netting  in his team’s 3-0 win over Qormi last week.

The goal lifted Balzan’s spirits and the Maltese side soon made it 2-1.

The clock marked 34 minutes when the Tigers failed to clear a Correa corner kick and in came Aleksandar Kosorovic to fire home for his first goal with a Balzan shirt.

More woes followed for Xewkija as on 38 minutes Bozovic’s throughball again put Effiong clear and the Malta striker fed Majdevac who had an easy job to push the ball into an empty net.

The Tigers started the second half with renewed impetus and on 52 minutes Darko Kristic’s shot flashed just wide.

A minute later, Bogdanovic forced his way through but was denied by Balzan goalkeeper Sean Cini.

At the other end, Effiong should have killed off the Gozitans but he incredibly fired over in front of a gaping goal.

But Balzan did put the game to bed on 58 minutes when in a quick break Bozovic played in Majdevac who opted to serve the unmarked Correa to tap the ball home.

Balzan continued to pour more men forward and they added a fifth on 66 minutes when the excellent Correa teed up Steve Pisani who blasted home to open his scoring account with the Reds.

Correa capped a fine performance when he completed his hat-trick on 75 minutes when he lobbed the ball over Mark Grima.