Mosta survive scare to knock out Mqabba on penalties, wins for Żabbar SP and Naxxar

Mosta survived a major scare before booking a place into the Last 16 of the FA Trophy as they needed a penalty shoot-out to overcome Mqabba.

Żabbar St Patrick and Naxxar Lions were also safely through to the next round of the competition after overcoming Challenge League opposition.

Mosta started as clear favourites against Amateur League 1 side Mqabba, but found a very resolute opponent in front of them.

The match experienced some drama in the space of a few minutes as first Mosta were awarded a penalty, but Emmanuel Prince Chibuzor missed from the spot.

Three minutes later, it was the turn of Mqabba to be awarded a penalty and they too failed to make the most of the opportunity as Luka Mijic failed to convert.

The match remained evenly poised with neither side finding a winner at the end of normal time, so extra-time was needed.

Here, Mosta looked set to win it when Ibrahim Halliru put them in front with just a minute to go.

But Mqabba refused to throw in the towel as they managed to score a dramatic equaliser a minute later to force a shoot-out.

However, Mosta kept their poise in the shoot-out to prevail 4-3.

Żabbar St Patrick did just enough to reach the next round of the FA Trophy when they edged past Gozitan side Xewkija Tigers 1-0 at the Centenary Stadium.

The Saints had to battle hard to get the win against a battling Xewkija side who had made life difficult for the Maltese Premier League side.

 The turning point of the match occurred at 56 minutes, when the Tigers had Stefan Cassar sent off, leaving them to play the next half hour with one player less.

Żabbar took little time to make the most of their numerical advantage, as on 64 minutes they went on to grab their winner through Mario Fontanella, who had been introduced as a second-half substitute, as the Italian forward rammed the ball home following a Nicholas Agius pass.

Naxxar Lions joined Żabbar in the next round with a routine 3-0 win over Challenge League side Marsa.

The Lions proved too strong for Marsa as they struck twice at either side of half-time before adding a late third goal.

Naxxar dominated the match right from the start but had to wait until the 40th minute to break the stalemate through Vinicius Baiano.

After the break, it was Vitinho who took centre stage for Naxxar as the Brazilian striker scored twice to seal their qualification.

Vitinho took just three minutes into the second half to make it 2-0 before wrapping up the win with a third goal four minutes from time.

Gozitan champions Qala Saints were knocked out of the competition after they suffered a 2-0 defeat to Challenge League side Mġarr United at the Gozo Stadium.

Kyle Frendo fired Mġarr ahead after 37 minutes before Cristhyan Noto Souza settled the match with the second on 63 minutes.

In the opening clash of the day, Pieta Hotspurs broke little sweat to see off Mtarfa 5-0.

Nicholas Pisani, Sami, Arthur Santana, Arthur Felippe and Emanuel Bio were all on the scoresheet for the Challenge League side.