vs
2	-	1
15' Rodney Buttigieg 74' Mark Camilleri		73' Justin Buhagiar

Xewkija Tigers are through the next round of the U*BET F.A. Trophy with a fine and convincing win over Third Division side Mdina Knights. Even though the results suggests other wise, Xewkija deserved this win and were the better team on the pitch and could have won the game with a larger margin. Credit to Mdina Knights who kept believing until the final whistle.

The Knights had a better start and were dangerous in the second minute of play when Matthew Francalanza, saw his effort parried by goalie Grima and eventually cleared by the Xewkija defence.  A minute later they were unlucky to hit the crossbar when a cross shot from the right by Mark Saliba hit the upper part of the bar, before finishing wide.  Xewkija eventually recovered from this slow start and were unlucky on 8 minutes when an effort by John Camilleri hit the post and one minute later the same Camilleri concluded wide from an ideal position.  On 14 minutes Mark Camilleri had another chance but goalie Barbara was well placed to block his effort.  A minute later, Xewkija's efforts were rewarded when Rodney Buttigieg connected with a Chris Camilleri cross to head past Barbara to put the Tigers in the lead.  Xewkija then reduced the pressure and maintained a certain grip on the match and went close on 34 minutes through a shot on the run by Chris Camilleri which was blocked by goalie Barbara.  Mdina's best scoring opporunity arrived on 43 minutes when Justin Buhagiar's cross arrived to Matthew Francalanza who concluded badly from an ideal position.

After the break Mdina Knights seemed more aggressive but Xewkija kept their opponents away from scoring any dangerous scoring opportunities.  The Tigers could have doubled the score on 49 minutes when a first timer by Chris Camilleri ended just high.  On the hour mark, John Camilleri had a goal disallowed for a dubious offside position following a corner kick by Elton Vella.  Xewkija were however punished on 73 minutes when a short goalkick was intercepted by Mdina's Justin Buhagiar who concluded in goal beating Grima to level the issue. The Tigers' reaction was immediate and they took the lead just one minute later through an angled shot by Mark Camilleri.  In the final minutes of the game the Tigers had two glorious opportunities to seal the match, when on 88 minutes Rodney Buttigieg had an effort blocked by the goalie Barbara and on 93 minutes Christian Bugeja saw his effort whistling the post with goalie Barbara beaten.  Between these two scoring opportunities, Mdina missed the equalizing goal on 90 minutes when Buhagiar saw his effort ending agonizingly off target with goalie Grima however having his post well covered.  

An important victory for the Tigers who together with Victoria Hotspurs and the only Gozitan teams remaining in this competition.

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 15 November 2011 12:10 )