NAXXAR LIONS                             3                     

Fenwick 4, 93

Messias 117

FLORIANA                                      1

Fontanella 49 pen.

Naxxar Lions produced the biggest upset of the third round of the FA Trophy when they knocked out Floriana, who claimed their 20th title last season.

Oliver Spiteri’s side, who has now won in his first two outings at the helm of the Lions, will take on Balzan in the fourth round of the competition.

Naxxar Lions forged ahead in their first noteworthy opportunity when an inviting cross from the left-hand side on which Daren Falzon failed to connect, dropped onto Scott Fenwick’s feet and the English man hit the base of the net from a tight angle.

Immediately after the change of ends, Floriana restored parity through Mario Fontanella who converted a penalty which was earned by Cabral with Ousseynou Ndoye being given the marching orders.

The extra-time started in invigorating, end-to-end style and it was the team with a man down who took the lead when Messias rushed towards goal before finding an unmarked Fenwick who with a curved effort beat Matthew Grech.

With Floriana attacking with all their players in a desperate attempt to level terms, they left behind exposed and in fact, Messias exploited that region to complete the formalities and dump Floriana out of the competition.

VALLETTA 2

Saleh 27, Mifsud 29

SENGLEA 0

Valletta eased into the fourth round of the FA Trophy after beating Senglea Athletic 2-0.

The Citizens needed 45 minutes to wrap up their place into the fourth round of the competition with two well-taken goals against an inferior Senglea Athletic side.

Hardly four minutes had elapsed when Claudio Pani darted into the area and attempted a delightful rising shot that narrowly missed the target.

It was an early scare for Senglea who soon realised that they were in for a tough afternoon.

On 27 minutes, Valletta broke the deadlock. Matteo Piciollo picked out the unmarked Raed Salah who unleashed an unstoppable volley into the net.

Two minutes later, the Citizens doubled their account. The Oman winger turned provider to feed Michael Mifsud who turned past goalkeeper Farrugia before poking the ball home.

The second half was conspicuous with the dearth of goalmouth action.

Valletta were in total control though and unlikely to let a two-goal advantage slip away.

Henry Bonello, the Valletta goalkeeper, made his first intervention after 56 minutes, tipping over the bar Ivan Paz’s free-kick.