Msida St Joseph were promoted to the Gatorade Futsal Premier League after seeing off a mighty Naxxar Lions side 8-5.

It was an evenly balanced match that kept all those present at the Corradino Pavillion on tenterhooks.

The match had to go on extra-time after both sides were tied on a 4-4 scoreline.

Despite their defeat, Naxxar Lions have to be lauded for their play as they showed character and determination during the match.

The game had an outstanding start as Ryan Mifsud broke the deadlock for the Lions on four minutes after a precise pass from Daniel Brincat.

However Msida St Joseph made a bold reaction and managed to restore parity through a well-taken penalty by Zvezdan Vukovic.

The latter was creating a lot of havoc to Naxxar’s defensive department as on 14 minutes he passed the ball to Chris Cutajar who slotted home to make it 2-1.

Msida were taking the upper hand with Gabriel Mansueto being kept busy with some important saves during the first half.

Mansueto had to succumb on 17 minutes when Aleksander Kristonijevic’s shot finished inside the net.

Although having a two-goal deficit, Naxxar refused to give up and Kurt Baldacchino reduced the arrears before the break,  as he tapped in an Adrian Fenech pass.

In the second half, the match continued to be evenly balanced with both goalkeepers saving the day for their respective teams.

Naxxar took advantage of a defensive blunder and managed to equalize after a fine lob by Daniel Brincat.

Msida succeded to restore their advantage when Herbert Spiteri scored from close range after a fine corner by Vukovic.

Despite this goal, Naxxar continued to march forward and managed to grab the equalizer when Ryan Mifsud’s grounder finished behind Keith Cassar Jackson to score a dramatic goal that took the match to extra-time.

In the extra-time, Naxxar had two great opportunities to surge ahead but Wismayer and Fenech failed to capitalize two consecutive free shots.

In a swift counterattack, Kristonijevic found the net for Msida’s fifth goal but immediately after the Lions reacted and clinched parity through Ryan Mifsud to complete a personal hat-trick.

After Azzopardi was unlucky to hit the post for Naxxar, it was Marian Gologan who stole the show as he found a dramatic goal to make it 6-5 for his team.

Then Naxxar’s mentor Carlo Scicluna opted for Christian Wismayer as the flying keeper to pile more pressure to Msida’s defence.

However this tactical change didn’t produce the desired effect as they left their post exposed and it was Aleksandar Kristonijevic that took advantage to score a quickfire brace to rubber-stamp an important victory for his team.

The end of the game brought joy amongst the Msida clan who saw their dream come true as now they join the already promoted Lija and Mellieha to Premier Division.

Msida SJ and Naxxar Lions will be crossing swords in the Playoffs’ Final, so that one of them will replace Gzira United in the Premiership.

For Msida the main motto which boosted them to grab their place in the final was Never Give Up. January was determinant for them after an unhappy first round. Msida never looked back, the positive results were coming and believed to play in the final for promotion.

All Msida’s players are fit and ready, even Zvezdan Vukovic who played in the semi final even though he was injured.

The same Vukovic talked to this site and told us that he’ll keep to help the team to the promotion. He continued that in case that Msida will be promoted to the premiership, they have to work hard and change thier mentality.

From the other side Naxxar will be playing in tomorrow’s final, as a result of the club’s hard work in the last two years. The team is challenging for the premiership’s promotion as its main objective for this season. The players are ready to sacrifice themselves and will follow the directives given by their coaching staff.

The final will be held tomorrow at the Corradino Sports Pavillion and kicks off at 8:30pm, with an expected high audience for both teams.

Presentations and celebrations from the promoted team and their supporters will follow.

Champions Balzan and league leaders Luxol St Andrews made it to the final of the Gatorade Futsal Premier Division play-offs after overcoming the hurdle imposed by their respective opponents Hamrun Spartans and Valletta.

Balzan staged one of the greatest play-off semifinals fight-backs to beat a resilient Hamrun Spartans side 7-4 after extra-time. (aggregate 13-11).

Hamrun had two important players, Rogerio and Chris Cardona, missing for this match with the former’s absence that was certainly felt.

The Spartans swept into a two-goal lead thanks to Raphinha’s double strikes.

However the Champions reacted fiercely and scored two quickfire goals by Slobodan Janjic, well-served by Marev and a violent drive by Carlo Scicluna.

However Hamrun continued to impress and managed to restore their advantage through the same Raphinha after dribbling past keeper Nicholas Farrugia.

As the first 20 minutes of play finished 3-2, Balzan had to upgrade their attacking level to restore the aggregate parity.

In fact it was their player coach, Frane Despotovic who found the net with a great shot but Hamrun were back in advantage as Rodrigo slotted in after a rebound.

The match continued to intensify as Despotovic completed his personal brace after putting the ball into the top corner of the net and level the matters for Balzan.

Balzan’s player-coach opted for the flying keeper to pile more pressure on the already tired Hamrun rearguard and find the crucial goal.

One attack after the other, the Spartans had to succumb to Balzan’s goal one minute from the end as Mark Zammit slotted home a perfect Marev pass to make it 5-4 and put the match into extra-time.

The extra-time was no story for Hamrun as Balzan continued on the offensive and managed to score their sixth goal through Boycho Marev, well-served by Glenn Bonello.

James Ciangura, the Spartans mentor, opted for Raphinha as a flying keeper to level the matters, but in doing so, they exposed their defence with Balzan’s keeper Nicholas Farrugia taking advantage to score into the empty net and assure of his team’s place in the final.

Luxol were a different side from the first leg as they brushed aside Valletta 9-1 to obtain a comfortable qualification for the play-offs final. (aggregate 15-5)

Valletta tried hard to react and had quite a good amount of shots at goal but found Luxol’s keeper Adrian Attard in fine form as he performed a string of important saves.

On their part, the St Andrews outfit were lethal in front of goal and managed to find the right moments to score their most important goals.

Peter Pullicino surged Luxol ahead while William Barbosa doubled the score after a goalkeeper’s blunder.

Pullicino, well-served by Barbosa, completed his  personal brace to make it 3-0 before the break.

In the second half, the plan of the match didn’t change so much as Luxol continued to surge forward, with the Citizens trying to absorb their opponents attacks.

Three more goals by William Barbosa and a brace by Florin Anton together with strikes from Matteo Desira Buttigieg completed the rout for Luxol as Valletta scored their consolation goal through Fabio Bandeira.

Balzan and Luxol will meet in the best of three play-off final to be played on May 8th, 15th and 22nd at the Corradino Pavillion.