Floriana 6 - Qormi 4 (penalty shoot-out)
Floriana booked their place in the final of the U*Bet FA Trophy this evening after edging Qormi 6-4 on penalties in a cagey encounter.
Goalmouth activity was at a premier although Qormi were the more adventurous side. In their first significant foray into Floriana’s half after 21 minutes, Lotfi Saidi put a hand outside his box to stop Mifsud’s foray towards his goal but the referee waved play on.
Qormi kept pressing, winning a number of flag-kicks. A hearty thump from distance by Ivan Woods after 35 minutes signalled the first spell of sustained pressure from the Greens.
In the 58th minute, Souza Santos profited from a goalmouth scramble to direct the ball towards Saidi. Santos’s shot packed a punch but it was straight at the Tunisian goalkeeper.
And moments later, in a stunning move that swept from one end of the field to the other in an instant left Qormi exposed as Borg unleashed an unstoppable shot from distance into the bottom corner.
Yet, in the 69th minute, Saidi kept Floriana on terms with an instinctive save, denying Hojung Kang from outside the box. But from the ensuing corner, Vandelannoite soared above the defence to meet Joseph Farrugia’s cross and made it 1-1.
Vandelannoite would complete a quick-fire transformation from hero to villain a minute later when he was sent off, guilty of leaning his hand on Woods face after a challenge by the touchline.
The setback did little to instil fear in the Qormi clan as they threw caution to the wind as they pressed hard for a winner and refused to lie down. From that point, Saidi stood in defiance of Azzopardi’s men. After 87 minutes, he pulled off the best save of the game, diving to his right to push away Souza’s downward header.
But the goalkeeper’s day soon turned sour albeit in a controversial manner in 97 minutes after the game drifted into extra-time. Lotfi Saidi handled the ball outside his box, thinking that the referee whistled for an offside.
Referee Adrian Azzopardi thought differently and sent him off as the bewildered keeper looked on. Luckily for Floriana, Woods did not utilise all substitutions and could introduce reserve goalkeeper Matthew Towns instead of El Yamani.
Qormi’s spirits rose when Floriana were also reduced to 10 men but a free-kick by Souza Santos was fisted away by Towns. The action swung from end to end and with few seconds of extra-time remaining, Woods muscled in a low shot but Farrugia saved as penalties loomed large.
In a tense shoot-out, Floriana held on to an early advantage when stand-in keeper Matthew Towns parried away Josue Santos Souza’s penalty.
Michael Mifsud, Joseph Farrugia and Stefan Giglio all scored from the spot. But the Qormi keeper failed to stop the shots from Manolito Micallef, Pablo Doffo, Christian Caruana and Tyrone Farrugia.
Floriana’s progress to the semis was sealed when Ivan Woods scored to send the Floriana players and fans into raptures.