Tony Cauchi... Floriana stalwart.Tony Cauchi... Floriana stalwart.

The Cassar Cup was in its final years but the 1960-61 edition provided one of the greatest matches ever seen at the stadium.

Sliema Wanderers, the holders, had to beat St George’s and Valletta to reach the final.

On the other hand, Floriana had to surmount the stiff chal­lenge put up by Hibernians. This game had everything – nine goals, two penalties, a goal disallowed and an own goal.

Floriana won 5-4 but it was their traditional ‘Irish’ luck that saw them through this match. With fewer attacks to their credit, the Greens scored the goals that mattered.

Yet, how easily could Floriana have sewn up this game long before the end. The ball ran kindly for them and by the 66th minute they had already built a commanding 5-1 lead.

Hibs, however, staged a great-hearted rally. Farrugia sliced an Eddie Theobald cross into his own net and then Żarenu Alamango kicked Jimmy Mizzi in the area, enabling Theobald to make the score 5-3 from the penalty spot.

The crowd was now on its feet, roaring its approval as it sensed a dramatic finish.

Mizzi hit the bar and the sus­pense became even keener when Theobald completed his hat-trick with a low shot from outside the area.

Only 60 seconds remained for the end of the match. Was it all over or could Hibs snatch the equaliser?

They nearly did on the stroke of time when a Mizzi volley seemed destined to reach the back of the net only for keeper Charlie Fabri to fling himself across goal and pull off a brilliant save.

Having beaten favourites Valletta in the semi-finals, the Wanderers looked well set to retain the Cassar Cup. Their prospects looked brighter when Floriana found themselves without a goalkeeper for the final.

On the morning of the match, Greens regular Fabri was rushed to hospital with an acute attack of appendicitis. Floriana’s dilemma increased when their reserve goalkeeper was unavailable. The only thing they could do was to turn centre-forward Tony Cauchi into a makeshift goalkeeper.

Cauchi was not new to the role.

After all, he had started his career as a goalkeeper but it was a long time since he had donned the no.1 jersey.

It seemed that Floriana were in for a drubbing but all those predictions went to the board as the Greens put on a brilliant exhibition of football. Throwing the formbook overboard, they swept the Wanderers off their feet to win by an incredible 6-0 score.

It was unheard of in those days for any of the Old Firm rivals to win such matches by a big margin. Yet, Floriana, with a depleted team, achieved the impossible and crushed the noses of their greatest rivals in the dust of the Gżira stadium.

One-club man

Cauchi was a one-club man. Born in Floriana on May 2, 1935, he never abandoned his hometown team.

In 1950-51, Cauchi was converted from a goalkeeper into a centre-forward. This experiment was a huge success as he acquitted himself so well in his new position that he never looked back.

Although still a minor player, his talent was immediately recognised by the MFA and in 1952-53 he was selected to play in a trial match for the Amateur XI.

Rather tall for his age and of a good stamina, he already packed a powerful shot in both feet. His quickness off the mark, coupled with his keen sense of goal, was a constant anxiety to all opposing defenders. It was clear that Cauchi had all the necessary requisites to make the grade.

He certainly did not disappoint his supporters and gave Floriana sterling service in a career spanning over 15 years.

Having seen some of the best goal scorers of all time in action, including Tony Nicholl, Sammy Nicholl, Joe Cini, Ronnie Cocks, Freddie Church, Stefan Sultana, Joe Zarb and Leonard Farrugia, I would not hesitate to nominate Cauchi as my candidate for the greatest goal-getter of all time.

His record of 125 goals in 159 league matches corroborates my statement.

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