Two goals in the dying minutes of the second half of extra-time handed Floriana a 2-0 win over Senglea Athletic in a match from the fourth round of the FA Trophy at the Hibernians Stadium on Saturday.

Senglea, who had eliminated Gzira United in the previous round, held on well against the BOV Premier League leaders but three minutes from the final whistle former Senglea midfielder Diego Venancio managed to break the deadlock for the Greens who now secure a place in the quarter-finals of the competition along with Birkirkara, Balzan, Hibernians, Pieta’ Hotspurs and the three winners of Sunday’s remaining fourth round matches.

Floriana could have taken the lead on the 4th minute with a Moustapha Beye effort cleared off the goal line but on the 11th, Senglea had a cross by Marcelo Dias for Jose Wilkson Teixeira from which the latter was unlucky to hit the cross bar with a close-range header. 

Twelve minutes in the second half, Floriana were awarded a penalty after Kristian Keqi, who had just replaced Clyde Borg, was brought down inside the area by Dejan Debono. However, Diego Venancio’s effort from the penalty spot was neutralised by Matthew Farrugia.

Moustpaha Beye tried his luck with a shot from outside the area ending high on 63 minutes and one minute later, a long-distance shot by Diego Venancio was parried by the Senglea goalkeeper. Another powerful drive by the Brazilian midfielder ended wide on 70 minutes. 

Off a corner from the right by substitute Brandon Paiber, Tiago Adan Fonseca’s header was cleared off the goal line by Cipriott on 79 minutes.

The game went into extra time and just before the end of the first period, off a cross by Alex Cini, a goal-bound header by Keqi was cleared off the goal line by Sigitas Olberkis.

Five minutes in the second half of extra-time, Elvis Sakyi received a second yellow card for Senglea, leaving his side in ten men.

Then with three minutes to go, Floriana managed to break the deadlock thanks to a long-distance freekick by Diego Venancio which beat Farrugia, ending in the bottom left corner.

Three minutes later, Tiago Adan Fonseca rounded the goalkeeper and squared low for Brandon Paiber to tap the ball home from close range to make sure of a spot in the next round.

FLORIANA Justin Spiteri, Moustapha Beye, Enzo Ruiz (107’ Jurgen Pisani), Diego Venancio, Clyde Borg (46’ Kristian Keqi), Ulises Arias, Augusto Caseres (75’ Brandon Paiber), Alex Cini (116’ Terence Vella), Jan Busuttil, Ryan Camenzuli, Tiago Adan Fonseca.
Subs not used: Ini Etim Akpan, Isaac Galea, Bradley Sciberras.
Coach: Vincenzo Potenza

SENGLEA Matthew Farrugia, Connor Zammit (104’ Leighton Grech), Sigitas Olberkis, Dejan Debono, Elvis Sakyi, Gonzalo Nicolas Virano (81’ Jan Tanti), Jose Wilkson Teixeira, Sean Cipriott, Juninho Cabral, Anderson Carneiro do Nascimento, Marcelo Dias.
Subs not used: Daniel Farrugia, Manolito Micallef, Brandon Mangion, Justin Micallef, David Xuereb.
Coach: Giorgio Roselli

Referee: Ishmael Barbara
Assistant Referees: Edward Spiteri, James Muscat
Fourth Official: Trustin Farrugia Cann
Yellow Cards: Sakyi, Venancio, Cipriott, Keqi, Grech
Red Cards: 110′ Elvis Sakyi