Ten-man holders scrape through on penalties

Football - FA Trophy

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Sliema bossed in midfield but laboured to find spaces in the Senglea crowded rearguard. They raked high balls inside their opponents’ area but headed efforts from Bianciardi and Scerri failed to find the target.

The Wanderers came closest to breaking the deadlock towards the half hour with a Pearson header that rebounded off the post and was cleared by the Senglea defence

Sliema were reduced to ten men on 36 minutes. The Sliema forward Jean Paul Farrugia was dismissed for treading on the grounded Doffo. Denni Dos Santos took a more central role in attack after that, but with Sliema looking disjointed and Senglea remaining resolute at the back, the match was goalless at halftime.

Senglea were playing with more confidence at the start of the second period as they tried to exploit their numerical superiority. Vella steered a grounder straight at the hands of Sliema keeper Sarao and Jurgen Farrugia had his effort blocked inside the area.

On 65 minutes, there were Senglea claims for a penalty turned down after Vella’s shot hit Temile’s arm from close distance.

Sliema introduced Gabriel Aquilina for Spiteri and soon regained control of the proceedings without working the Senglea keeper though.

The match came to life in the late stages. Obaje-Smith ran in well from the right for a Farrustill gia through pass but keeper Sarau turned into a corner. From the resultant flag kick, Tanti headed just over.

The Senglea fans must have had their hearts in their mouth on 84 minutes when Temile advanced inside the Athletic area, his cross was handled by Tanti’s outstretched arm but surprisingly no penalty was awarded to Sliema.

Another late chance for the Wanderers saw Xuereb’s shot headed out by Doffo. And in added time, Denni sent a ball across the face of the Senglea goal with nobody connecting to it.

Although Senglea went close in extra time, with a Muscat rising shot and a Doffo free kick that keeper Sarao turned into a corner, and there remain doubts whether there was contact between Bianciardi and ObajeSmith, when the latter fell inside the Sliema area, thus denying Senglea a penalty, the stalemate still prevailed after 120 minutes of playing time.

On to penalties, Sliema keeper Sarao saved three kicks by Tanti, Obaje-Smith and Beppe Muscat. Captain Alex Muscat scored the fifth and decisive penalty, after Scerri and Correa also had their shots saved by the Senglea keeper Martinelli, to put the Wanderers into the semis.

A curious incident during the penalty shoot-out was Wisdom Salomon’s dismissal by the referee after the Sliema player had scored his side’s fourth penalty and made some gestures to the hostile Senglea crowd.

Ten-man Sliema Wanderers kept their defence for the Trophy they won last season going but they were stretched to the limit by Division 1 side Senglea Athletic. This battle did not provide too much entertainment but reserved some late drama, being decided by a penalty shoot-out after a barren but eventful 120 minutes. Senglea do lie ten places below their Premier League opponents and had come into this quarter final with what looked like a strategy of damage limitation and the outside chance of a penalty shoot-out at best. They were very close to accomplishing that, only to miss three penalties in the final shoot-out, to bow out of the competition with heads held high. Senglea were never out of their depth against John Buttigieg’s side, who lost striker Jean Paul Farrugia after 36 minutes, being sent off with a straight red card, soon after the woodwork had denied Jonathan Pearson. Senglea had come thus far by knocking out Xaghra United in the Second Round, but needed extra time to get the better of Hibernians and Vittoriosa Stars in the preceeding rounds. Senglea started in orderly fashion. They relied heavily on midfielder Marcelo De Sousa Dias for inventive, but he often struggled to provide service for the isolated Austin ObajeSmith, their main pivot in attack. Their build-ups were slow and often predictable and allowed their opponents to control the proceedings. Midway through the half, the unsupported Obaje-Smith persisted with possession inside the Sliema area but, when challenged by Bianciardi, he shot Beppe Muscat of Senglea Athletic (L) competes for possession against Denni Dos Santos of Sliema Wanderers. Photo: Domenic Aquilina