Tigers suffer double ko

Xewkija Tigers, winners of this year's Independence Cup, were knocked out of two pre-championship competitions.

In the GFA Cup, the Tigers suffered elimination at the hands of second division side St Lawrence Spurs. This exit was followed by another disappointment as Xewkija were bundled out of the Noel Vassallo Cup by Zebbug Rovers.

GFA Cup

Second division sides St Lawrence Spurs and Xaghra United stole the attention when reaching the semi-finals of the GFA Cup. In the semis, they have been pitted against Zebbug Rovers and Nadur Youngsters respectively.

St Lawrence won their preliminary round match against Xewkija Tigers after a penalty shoot-out. After a goalless stalemate, the Saints converted three penalties through Teddy Micallef, Josef Galea and David Portelli while Jason Portelli was Xewkija's only scorer from the penalty spot.

St Lawrence maintained their form in the quarter-finals, beating second division outfit SK Victoria Wanderers 2-0, with goals by Stefan Sultana (21) and Ganny Kolawole (49).

A 2-1 victory saw Xaghra United reaching the semi-finals at the expense of Sannat Lions.

The Lions were coming from an impressive 3-1 victory over Ghajnsielem in the preliminary round but were taken aback by Xaghra's effective play.

John Camilleri (32) and Chris Camilleri (46) were on mark for Xaghra. Cristiano de Oliveira had temporarily brought Sannat on level terms in the 34th minute.

Zebbug Rovers made amends for their disappointment in the Independence Cup with encouraging performances in their GFA Cup matches.

The Rovers obtained a 3-0 victory over Qala St Joseph in the preliminary round with goals from Mario Azzopardi (58), Mahjoub Touali (68) and Silvan Galea (86).

In the quarter-finals, the Rovers defeated second division side Gharb Rangers 7-1 with a hat-trick from Leandro Quinhone, two goals from Galea and a goal each from Basden Uzoehere and Philip Cardona.

Peter Ohaka struck the consolation goal for Gharb from a penalty.

Nadur Youngsters also showed good form in the GFA Cup.

Kim Wright's side gained a 3-0 victory against Victoria Hotspurs in the preliminary round.

Joseph Portelli notched a brace for Nadur with the other goal coming from Mario Bonello. These two players were also prominent in Nadur's quarter-final match against Kercem Ajax, scoring a goal apiece to help their team achieve a 2-0 victory.

The semi-finals of the GFA Cup will be played midway through the season.

Noel Vassallo Cup

The second edition of the Noel Vassallo Cup kicked off with a match between Xewkija Tigers and Zebbug Rovers.

In what turned out to be the most exciting match so far this season, the Rovers ended the Tigers' involvement in the competition with a 2-1 victory.

Zebbug took a 2-0 lead with goals from Galea (21) and Uzoehere (71).

Xewkija missed a penalty 15 minutes from time before Jeffrey Farrugia gave them some hope on 83 minutes.

Zebbug meet Sannat Lions in the semi-finals.

FXB Division Two KO

St Lawrence Spurs and Xaghra United advanced to the semi-finals of the Division Two KO competition with victories over Gharb R. and SK Victoria Wanderers respectively.

The Saints scored seven times in their resounding 7-2 win over Gharb. Their scorers were Charles Mercieca, Aldo Formosa (2), Jonathan Micallef (2), Matthew Francalanza and Renzo Formosa. Godfrey Galea and Ohaka notched Gharb's goals.

The encounter between Xaghra United and SK Victoria Wanderers was more balanced as reflected by the 1-0 scoreline in favour of the former. The winning goal was scored by Chris Camilleri on 30 minutes.

In the semi-finals, St Lawrence meet Qala St Joseph while Xaghra United take on Oratory Youths.