Favourites Valletta, Balzan, Pembroke Athleta and Ghajnsielem qualified for the fourth round of the FA Trophy but Gzira United were eliminated at the hands of Vittoriosa Stars as five matches from the third round were played on Wednesday.

First Division side Vittoriosa Stars came from behind to beat Gzira United 3-2 at the Centenary Stadium. Mamadou Salieu Jallow put the Maroons ahead four minutes from the end of the first half but the Stars were quick to turn the score in their favour with two goals before the break thanks to Fabjo Dhrami on the 43rd and Ryan Previ on the 45th. Arber Dhrami sealed the issue with a third goal on the 63rd although Rafael Ledesma reduced the gap for Gzira on the 92nd minute.

Vittoriosa, who had eliminated Attard in the previous round, will be facing neighbours Senglea Athletic in the fourth round.

VITTORIOSA James Mercieca, Christian George Mallia, Ryan Previ, Petar Mrvic, Clive Spiteri, Elvis Paso (69′ Liam Gauci), Tristan Abela Wilson, Dion Fava, Arber Dhrami (87′ Emmanuel Mbong), Fabjo Dhrami (76′ Steve Agius), Gianluca Sultana.
Coach: Robert Cassar

GZIRA Jamie Azzopardi, Jacob Borg (65′ Rafael Ledesma), Gianmarco Conti, Zachary Scerri, Ricardo Correa Duarte, Antonio de Queiroz Machedon Neto, Mamadou Salieu Jallow, John Nwoba, Juan Carlos Corbalan, Souleuymane Diamoutene, Yanis Tonna.
Coach: Darren Abdilla

Referee: Alan Mario Sant
Assistant Referees: Edward Spiteri, Jurgen Spiteri
Fourth Official: Philip Farrugia

A goal by Uchenna Calistus Umeh handed Valletta a narrow win over Second Division side San Gwann at the Victor Tedesco Stadium.

The Citizens will be facing Balzan in the fourth round.

VALLETTA Dziugas Bartkus, Romeu Pericles Romao, Leandro Aguirre, Juan Gill Cruz, Claudio Pani, Santiago Malano (92′ Nicholas Pulis), Uchenna Calistus Umeh, Ryan Camilleri, Jean Borg (73′ Llywelyn Cremona), Luke Montebello, Jurgen Suda (68′ Russell Fenech).
Coach: Paul Zammit

SAN GWANN Justin Spiteri, Jonathan Bugeja, Ryan Zammit, Andre Cachia, Josef Cutajar, Alan Borg, Nezar Fawzi Abouhaisa (86′ Marc Attard), Nikolai Muscat, Zack Bowman, Jan Tanti (88′ Jake Bowman), Abeeb Abiodun Williams (72′ Simon Shead).
Coach: Stefano Grima

Referee: Stefan Pace
Assistant Referees: Alan Camilleri, Thomas Debono
Fourth Official: Malcolm Spiteri

In fact, Balzan defeated First Division side Zebbug Rangers 3-1 in another match at the Victor Tedesco Stadium.

Following a goalless first half, Alfred Effiong put Balzan ahead on the 52nd and one minute later, substitute Paul Lapira doubled the score. Lapira added another on the 59th with Mauricio Rodrigues Britto scoring a consolation goal for Zebbug on the 71st.

ZEBBUG Julian Azzopardi, Matthew Borda, Tomislav Trebovac, Andrea Curmi (66′ Matthew Camilleri), Dario Tabone (69′ Jean Paul Formosa), Shaun Borg, Iousef Meli, Omar Rababah, Kurt Zammit (72′ Roderick Bajada), Mauricio Rodrigues Britto, Ayrton Micallef.
Coach: Johann Cilia

BALZAN Christian Cassar, Bojan Kaljevic (58′ Paul Lapira), Elkin Serrano Valero, Alfred Effiong, Anderson Francisco de Barros, Alan da Silva Souza, Dylan Grima, Lydon Micallef (29′ Abdelkarim Nafti), Sean Cipriott, Clive Brincat (62′ Jamie Zerafa), Terence Agius.
Coach: Oliver Spiteri

Referee: Eman Grech
Assistant Referees: Paul Apap, Christopher Azzopardi
Fourth Official: Sandro Spiteri

Pembroke Athleta defeated First Division side Sirens 2-1 at the Centenary Stadium.
Jhonathan Bernardo Mariano put Pembroke ahead on the 19th minute and Siraj Arab Eddin doubled the score six minutes in the second half. Kenneth Etim scored a consolation goal for Sirens on the 64th minute.

Pembroke will be facing another First Division side, Marsa, in the fourth round.

SIRENS Sean Cini (46′ Gabriele Romano), Daniel Sant, Leonardo Gabrieli, Davide Martini (45′ Dario Zampa)(61′ Kenneth Etim), Matthew Bartolo, Iro Curmi, Jonas Ekani Rodriguez, Roland Sala, Miguel Ciantar, Charles Newuche, Daniel Bonnici.
Coach: Tommaso Volpi

PEMBROKE Matthew Calleja Cremona, Paltemio Barbetti, Zoran Levnaic, Miguel Attard, Siraj Arab Eddin, Haruna Shola Shodiya, Jhonathan Bernardo Mariano (45′ Owen Bugeja), Filippo Andrea Scozzese, Oleksandr Maksymov, Borche Manevski, Adrian Borg.

Referee: Esther Azzopardi
Assistant Referees: Mitchell Scerri, Duncan Sultana
Fourth Official: Fyodor Zammit

At the Sannat Ground, Ghajnsielem defeated Victoria Hotspurs 3-2 in a clash between two Gozitan sides.

Johnny Camilleri put the Blacks ahead on the 23rd minute but Henrique Maciel levelled matters on the half-hour and made it 2-1 seven minutes in the second half. Johnny Camilleri restored equilibrium on the 63rd and three minutes later, Emiliano Lattes made it 3-2 for Ghajnsielem.

Ghajnsielem, who had eliminated Kalkara and Naxxar Lions in the previous round, will be facing Floriana in the fourth round.

HOTSPURS Adrian Parnis, Jason Pace (84′ Joseph George Vella), Oliver Curmi (69′ Kevin Farrugia), Charles Mercieca, Moussa Bamba, Chris Mercieca, Shaun Attard, Daniel Farrugia, Michael Bezzina (76′ Jonathan Bajada), Henrique Maciel, Louis Rene Zome.
Coach: Noel Borg

GHAJNSIELEM Luke Buttigieg, Ferdinando Apap, John Jairo Sandoval, Johnny Camilleri (92′ Alberto Xuereb), Kenny Hili, Edison Bilbao Zarate, Chris Camilleri (89′ Christian Dingli), Damon Hili, Stefan Cassar, Emiliano Lattes, Kenneth Mercieca.
Coach: Anton Cremona

Referee: Trustin Farrugia Cann
Assistant Referees: William Debattista, David Castillo