Mosta 0
Vittoriosa Stars 2
Eviparker 8, 86 pen.
Anthony Eviparker was the toast of the town yesterday. The Nigerian scored a brilliant goal early on and doubled up from the penalty spot in the dying moments as Vittoriosa Stars had the better of Mosta in the FA Trophy first round.
The reward for Vittoriosa's deserved win, their first so far this season, is a second-round tie against the winner of the match between Hibernians and St George's.
Ravaged by injuries, Vittoriosa showed commendable resilience as they produced a plucky performance to frustrate the more-quoted Mosta who, despite enjoying more possession, were confused in attack.
The first noteworthy chance of the game fell to Mosta. Ryan Deguara did well to evade the attentions of the Vittoriosa defenders but his shot rolled wide of the far post.
Within a minute, the stalemate was broken but it was Vittoriosa who drew first blood. And what a goal it was as Eviparker, the captain, chested the ball close to the six-yard box before arching backwards to produce an overhead kick that sailed past the diving Jonathan Debono.
Close to the 14th-minute mark, Mosta might have redressed the imbalance when Lyden Micallef pounced on a mistake by the Vittoriosa defence but his tame shot was stopped by Juergen Micallef.
Mosta's possession count grew as the first half progressed. On 20 minutes, the Blues would have levelled matters were it not for a fine save by Micallef from Elton Vella's drive.
Vittoriosa looked content to sit back and absorb the pressure while trying to catch Mosta on the counter, mainly through long balls for Eviparker and Kenneth Abela.
On 28 minutes, Mosta came close again to an equaliser when Bryan Agius, back with the Blues after a season-long loan spell with Valletta, floated a centre in the box, Ewurum flicked the ball towards Deguara but the latter hit wide.
Referee Paul Caruana then turned down Mosta's claims for a penalty after Robert Adami appeared to nudge Adrian Borg to the ground.
Mosta began the second period on attack but it was Vittoriosa who threatened to double their advantage. Latching on to a pass from the back, Eviparker advanced towards goal but out came Debono to close the angle. Eviparker ended on the turf amid shouts of 'foul' by the Vittoriosa players but the ref saw nothing wrong.
Shortly afterwards, Mosta got another stark reminder of the attacking threat posed by Eviparker. Abela headed the ball to the Nigerian whose first shot was stopped by Debono. The rebound was again picked up by Eviparker but Debono denied him with another fine save.
Vittoriosa were now pushing forward with intent but Debono kept Mosta in the game when tipping a Stephen Calleja's long-range dipper over the bar.
Eighteen minutes from time, Ewurum received the ball deep in Vittoriosa's half before serving Carlos Camenzuli on the left. The Mosta substitute was completely unmarked in the inside-left channel but opted to shoot immediately. The next thing the ball was flying high and over the bar.
Mosta sought to increase the pressure late on but Vittoriosa's forwards were afforded acres of open space.
On one occasion, Eviparker squared up to the unmarked Abela and looked certain to score but hit his lob wide.
Mosta heaved a sigh of relief but four minutes from time, their hopes suffered a blow. From another Vittoriosa breakaway, Privitelli forced his way inside the box but his run was stopped by Melvin Farrugia's late tackle. Caruana pointed to the spot and Eviparker drove the ball past Debono to seal Vittoriosa's win.
Mosta
J. Debono, B. Agius ('67 C. Camenzuli), A. Borg, S. Borg, M. Brincat, R. Deguara, A. Ewurum ('87 J. Bajada), M. Farrugia, L. Micallef ('72 G. Calabretta), E. Vella, A. Saliba.
Vittoriosa
J. Micallef, K. Abela, J. Spiteri, S. Calleja, A. Eviparker, D. Gauci, J. Camilleri, L. Lagana, R. Adami, L. Scerri ('42 H. Hughes), S. Privitelli ('87 T. Camilleri).
Referee: Paul Caruana.
Yellow cards: Ewurum; Adami; Privitelli; Calleja; Deguara; Farrugia; Camilleri.