A first glance at the opening matches
The first league matches are now covered by the twelve teams participating in this futsal season. The teams that managed to grab their first three points include University of Malta, Hamrun Tre Angeli, Pieta Hotspurs, Valletta, Tarxien JMI and Luxol.
The Universitarians grabbed their first win against Qormi, with the end result of 2-0. Hamrun Tre Angeli, with their strong squad, made it easy over Swieqi U21 winning 19-1.
Valletta also started on the winning track against Mriehel ESS winning 5-1. A very interesting encounter between newcomers Pieta Hotspurs and Marsaskala ended with the former beating revamped Marsaskala 4-2.
Following, on Friday night, Tarxien JMI laid no chance to the other newcomers Junior College, as they made it 11-2. Champions Luxol who are heading for the UEFA Futsal Cup's Main Round made it 6-1 against Swieqi.
Speaking about Luxol, we need not forget to mention Emil Raducu, who is the Romanian National Team's captain; one of the scorers in their qualification to the Euro 2018's Main Round. In fact Raducu scored the sixth goal in their victory of 7-4 against Georgia. Romania made it to the Main Round with an aggregate of 9-6. Romania will play in Group C together with Portugal and Ukraine. In addition, Slovenia will be hosting this European competition between the 30th January and the 10th February at the Arena Stožice in Ljubljana.
Initiation of the Futsal season with the Knock Out Competition
The first round matches of the Knock Out Competition took place this week, with Pieta Hotspurs, University of Malta, Marsaskala and Tarxien JMI joining seeded Luxol, Valletta, Hamrun and Swieqi.
The opening match which was meant to be the debut of the two newcomers, between Pieta Hotspurs and Junior College, ended up in the least expected way. Since only Pieta Hotspurs appeared for the match, Junior College called a walk over.
Following, the University of Malta and Mriehel ESS offered an entertaining match to those present at the Corradino Sport Pavillion. The Universitarians qualified to the next round by achieving a winning result of 6-4.
Revamped Marsaskala made it also to the next round against Qormi, with an end result of 5-2. Tarxien JMI joined in with the qualified teams, winning against Swieqi U21 by 8-2.
As from next Monday, the FMA Gatorade League 20171/8 initiates with the University of Malta challenging Qormi, while Swieqi U21 will face Hamrun Tre Angeli.
On Thursday Valletta will start their season against Mriehel ESS, while Marsaskala will play against Pieta Hotspurs.
Finally on Friday, Tarxien JMI will play against Junior College, and Swieqi will face the reigning champions Luxol.
All matches kick off at 8pm and around 9:30pm at the Corradino Sport Pavillion.
It's another Super Cup for Luxol
Another honour was added to Luxol St Andrews as they opened the futsal season with a win of the Super Cup Final against Hamrun Tre Angeli. Both teams played good level futsal and gave an entertaining match to those present at the Corradino Sport Pavillion.
Hamrun gave an early shock when captain Jason Mifsud opened the score after only five seconds. A minute and a half later, ex Hamrun Rogerio Dos Santos responded back by levelling the matters. Goals from Emil Raducu, Glenn Bonello and George Frendo upgraded the score to 4-1 before the end of the first of half.
During the first two minutes of the second half, Rogerio Dos Santos extended the lead by scoring twice for Luxol. This moved on Everton Dos Santos to take his turn and score a brace giving a much more respectable deficit for Hamrun Tre Angeli. It seemed that Luxol wanted to tighten their grip to the Super Cup as they showered more goals through Emil Raducu, Mark Zammit and Zvezdan Vukovic.
The final whistle was followed by the usual formalities with the presentation chaired by MFA Vice President Dr Matthew Paris, accompanied by FMA's executive Ms Mireille Vella. Finally Luxol's captain Mark Zammit received the Super Cup and lifted up high amongst the well deserved celebrations.