Meridianbet FA Trophy First Round
Xaghra United 1 Victoria Hotspurs 5
The match got off to a great start with Victoria Hotspurs taking the lead after 9 minutes. Captain Ferdinando Apap slammed a free kick home giving Mattia Zammit no chance. From the kick off Xaghra appeared to equalize but referee Glenn Tonna disallowed the goal after having been alerted by the assistant that a Xaghra United player was still in the opponent’s half.
Victoria continued dominating proceedings and came close to adding a second on 14 minutes when a shot by Rondinely was brilliantly saved by Zammit. Four minutes later it was indeed 2-0 with another scorcher, this time by Rondilney. It was Matthias Said who hit the post on 25 minutes as the match continued as one way traffic.
The Hotspurs sewed up the match and the tie on the half hour mark when a fine run by Matthias Said eventually found Kurt Borg who made no mistake from close range. Xaghra struck back immediately with Luca Borg giving them a lifeline with a tap in just a minute later. Xaghra had another good chance on 40 minutes when Damir Andelovic’s shot was saved in two attempts by Parnis.
Normal service was resumed on 52 minutes when Victoria added a fourth after some fine work by Shaun Attard who squared to Kurt Borg who blasted home for his second of the match. Xaghra should have reduced the arrears on 73 minutes but Castanho was handed the ball on a plate from Andelovic but the Colombian striker fluffed his effort.
Victoria made it 5-1 ten minutes from time when Wellington de Souza squared to Emmanuel Mbong who tapped in with ease.
