Sliema win FA Trophy for record 22nd time
0Sliema Wanderers won the Iz‐ ibet FA Trophy for a record 22nd time after beating eternal rivals Floriana after a penalty shoot‐out.
The Wanderers are now the undisputed leaders of Maltese football having won 26 league titles like Floriana, and now one more FA trophy than the Greens.
The Wanderers also became the first team in history to win the Trophy in the first year after gaining promotion to the the top category.
For Floriana another disap‐ pointment after missing on the league title in the final 180 minutes, they remain empty handed in an otherwise posi‐ tive season.
The final in front of a very good and festive crowd disap‐ pointed.
Both sides gave their all but goal‐mouth actions were scarce, practically inexistent.
Suffice to say that the best chance of the game came in the final minutes of the game when Lydon Micallek was denied by the Floriana custodian.
Otherwise the Sliema goal‐ keeper Al Tumi was never re‐ ally tested even though the Greens had more of the ball.
But both defences were supreme and the match dragged on with no decision and the destiny of the FA Tro‐ phy was to be decided by penalties.
In extra time both teams were down to ten with Valadzko re‐ ceiving two yellows in the space of a minute and Neil
Frendo was shown a straight red, a rather harsh decision, probably the only wrong deci‐ sion by an otherwise superb Fyodor Zammit.
Acheampong scored Sliema’s first penalty with Al Tumi sav‐ ing Veselji’s effort. Awad and Arias cored the second round of penalties, while the third penalties from Alcino and Reid were both saved by the goal‐ keepers.
Lydon Micallef scored the fourth penalty for the Blues and Zammit Lonardelli kept Floriana’s hopes alive, but Jospeh Minala made no mistake from Sliema’s fifth and final penalty, to send the Sliema players and supporters in rap‐ tures.
At the end MFA President Bjorn Vassallo presented Mark Scerri and Edmond Agius with the coveted Trophy.