U*BET FA Trophy: Hibs, Tarxien reach second round

Hibernians and Tarxien Rainbows secured a place in the second round of the U*BET FA Trophy as they defeated opposition from Division 1 on Saturday at the Victor Tedesco Stadium.

In the first game, Hibernians defeated Pietà Hotspurs 4-0.

Hibs managed to take the lead four minutes from the end of the first half when off a Tristan Caruana corner from the left, Jean Paul Farrugia headed home past goalkeeper Miguel Montfort.

Jonathan Pearson doubled the score on 63 minutes, hitting home from close range off a Triston Caruana corner. Eight minutes later, Hibernians made it 3-0 when Jean Paul Farrugia, served by Edward Herrera, hit low past Montfort.

Four minutes from time, Paul McManus sealed the issue with a fourth goal as he beat Montfort with a cute lob.

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HIBS Mario Muscat Adrian Pulis (56′ Matthew Gauci), Jonathan Pearson, Matthew Tabone, Bjorn Kristensen (85′ Ayrton Azzopardi), Triston Caruana, Edward Herrera, Andrew Cohen, Paul McManus, Jean Paul Farrugia (78′ Steve Pisani), Zoran Levnaic.
PIETÀ Miguel Montfort, Clive Spiteri (78′ Ansil Briffa), Ryan Mifsud, Bernard Sciberras, Quilin Refalo, Robson Luiz Bandeira, Sheldon Grech (63′ Dominic Mifsud), Stefan Lijeskic, Zach Muscat, Cleaven Cassar, Jurgen Pisani
Referee: Adrian Azzopardi
Assistant Referees: Joe Camilleri, William Debattista
Fourth Official: Kevin Azzopardi

In the second match, Tarxien Rainbows beat Balzan Youths 3-1.

Tarxien forged ahead on the 12th minutes when off a cross by Ricardo Costa, Sergio Pacheco De Oliveira hit hard past goalkeeper Fredrick Tabone.

Cristiano Dos Santos Rodrigues doubled the score on 34 minutes, heading home from a Mark Tanti corner.

In added time, Steve Meilak was brought down inside the area and from the penalty spot, Uchenna Anyanwu made no mistake to reduce the gap.

However on 56 minutes, Tarxien sealed the issue when off a corner by Gianluca Calabretta, Everton Antonio Pereira headed home past Tabone.

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BALZAN Fredrick Tabone, Clint Micallef, David Agius, Jonathan Francica (72′ Bjorn Bondin), Malcolm Buttigieg, Silvan Ciscaldi (63′ Matthew Sciortino), Dylan Grima (74′ Lydon Micallef), David Fenech, Steven Meilak, Uchenna Anyanwu, Renato Garcia Conceicao.
TARXIEN David Cassar, Steve Sadowski, Everton Antonio Pereira, Gianluca Calabretta, Ricardo Costa, Cristiano Dos Santos Rodrigues, Sergio Pacheco de Oliveira (76′ Orosco Anonam), Mark Tanti, Julian Vella (64′ Lee Galea), Ryan Mintoff, Ryan Grech (46′ Justin Grioli).
Referee: Mario Apap
Assistant Referees: Konrad Borg, Thomas Debono
Fourth Official: Trustin Farrugia Cann
Yellow Cards: C. Micallef, J. Francica, M. Sciortino (B), S. Sadowski, G. Calabretta, R. Costa, R. Mintoff (T)

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