Valletta FC youngsters put on late show to knock out Finland’s FC Honka in UEFA Youth League

Valletta FC’s Youth team secured a historic qualification for the second round of the UEFA Conference League in the most dramatic fashion after knocking out the Finnish side, FC Honka, 3-0 on penalties at the Centenary Stadium.

After losing the first leg in Finland 1-0 a fortnight ago, the onus was on Valletta to come out with all guns blazing in a bid to overturn the tie in their favour.

However, initially it looked as though Valletta were set for a frustrating evening after falling behind to an Elliot Backman goal after only 24 minutes of play.

But the City youngsters refused to throw in the towel and they managed to draw level seven minutes into the second half when Keyom Ewurum’s shot was deflected by Erik Davidyan into his own net.

FC Honka thought they had struck the killer blow when Davidyan netted the Finnish side’s second goal with only 11 minutes to go and regain a two-goal aggregate lead.

But Valletta’s determination saw them stage a stunning late rally when Peter Ohaka Jr levelled the match on 81 minutes before Jake Azzopardi sent the game into a penalty shoot-out to put the Citizens 3-2 up and 3-3 on aggregate.

Here, Valletta goalkeeper Liam Frendo took centre stage as he managed to save all three penalties taken by FC Honka while the Citizens converted all three through Ewurum, Liam Buhagiar and Claude Mercieca to send the team through to the delight of the Valletta fans.

Valletta will now face French top side AJ Auxerre in the second round of the competition.