FLORIANA-1, BALZAN YOUTHS-0
Floriana kept their bid to defend the FA Trophy on track as Andre Grabowski's goal early in the second half gave them a merited 1-0 win over Balzan Youths in their fourth round clash this afternoon.
The Greens dominated the early exchanges. They should have taken the lead after 10 minutes when Christian Cassar ran past Bjorn Bondin on the left before hiting an inviting cross into the box but Andre Grabowski headed wide from close in.
Two minutes, the Greens' pressure looked to have been rewarded as they won a penalty after Anthony Eviparker pushed Ivan Woods to the ground as the latter ran into the box to collect a pass from Grabowski.
Woods took responsibility for the penalty but his low strike flashed against the base of a post.
Floriana created another chanced when Clyde Borg controlled the ball outside the area and avoided his marker but his central shot was blocked by Balzan goalkeeper Fredrick Tabone.
In an isolated Balzan attack, Pedrinho cut in from the right and cut the ball back for Lins Fagner Bernardes who fired wide.
Balzan would have fallen behind were it not for goalkeeper Tabone who, having pushed away Cassar's dipping cross, stood up quickly to stop Grabowski's follow-up effort.
Close to the half-hour mark, Balzan's Rennie Forace picked up a pass from Pedrinho and advanced on the left before picking out Bondin whose strong drive from outside the area ended high and wide.
Pedrinho came closer as his dipping shot from the distance sailed just over the crossbar.
At the other end, Grabowski fired over after receiving another fine cross from Cassar.
Woods had the chance to make up for his early penalty miss when Grabowski's floated pass found him unmarked but the Floriana striker mishit his volley.
Floriana opened the scoring nine minutes into the second half. Pablo Doffo's free-kick triggered a goalmouth melee and Grabowski hit home from close range after his initial effort had been partially cleared by Forace.
Grabowski almost made it 2-0 minutes later but his drive was deflected past the far post.
Malcolm Licari, who came on for Borg at the start of the second half, ran clear on the left and cut the ball back for Cassar who hit a strong drive that skimmed the upright.
Balzan came close to an equaliser on 62 minutes when Pedrinho's cross from a free-kick triggered a goalmouth melee and Eviparker fired over from inside the box.
Scoring chances were rare in the final stages with Balzan only going close once through Grima whose dangerous shot ended just wide.