A penalty scored by Joseph Marie Minala during the second half of the extra-time penalty was enough to send Sliema through to the quarter finals of the IZIBET FA Trophy.
In the first half, Sliema started brightly with Christ Kouao causing problems to Balzan.
Sliema had the best chance of a poor first half as in the 10th minute, Christ Kouao sent a cross to Myles Beerman who headed the ball back into the box but Samuel Gomes da Mata was anticipated before he could connect to the ball.
Christ Kouao showed moments of flair but the first half provided little entertainment which ended goalless.
In the second half, Sliema continued dictating but the first chance of note fell to Balzan, in the 51st minute, when Sliema goalkeeper Rashid El Tumi pulled off an excellent save, turning Olivier Rommen’s direct free kick into a corner.
On the other side, in the 52nd minute, Samuel Gomez da Mata advanced and served Edmond Agius whose flick was blocked by Balzan goalkeeper Rudy Briffa.
In the 63rd minute, Balzan goalkeeper was back in action to palm away a shot by substitute Vito Plut before blocking Godfrey Edwin Acheampong’s rebound.
In the 69th minute, as Sliema strived to break the deadlock, Rudy Briffa parried away a good attempt from a distance from another substitute Joachim Adukor.
But there was no breakthrough as the teams went into extra-time.
In the first half of the extra time, both teams tried their best to break the dead lock but both goalkeepers where no tested.
On 115 minutes, Samir Arab was adjudged to have handled the ball into the box and referee pointed to the spot.
Although Balzan goal keeper Rudy Briffa was the hero of the match but during the penalty kick JOSEPH MARIE MINALA kept his nerve to send him the wrong way, finding the net and sending Sliema through to the quarter finals of the IZIBET FA Trophy.
SLIEMA W : Rashed Al Tumi, Joseph Marie Minala, Samuel Gomez Da Mata (Joachim Adukor 61’), Myles Beerman, Gustavo Alcino, Edmond Agius (Vito Plut 61’), Daniil Kondrakov (Mohamed Abdulahi Awad (91’), Christ Damsen Denis Kouao (Jake Engerer 110’), Neil Frendo, Henrique Friere Bernardo Murilo, Geoffrey Edwin Acheampong (James Arthur 118’).
BALZAN: Rudy Briffa, Ivan Bozovic (Benjamin Hili 91’), Andre’ Prates, Samir Arab, Marcus Grima (Triston Caruana 46’), Oluwatobiloba Dimeji Awosanya (Nikola Zerjal 80’), Han Euigwon (Aleksandar Katanic 56’), Ryohei Michibuchi (Paul Fenech 67’), Nikola Braunovic, Olivier Rommens, George Henry Raymond Blackwood (Jan Busuttil 56’).
Referee: Slobodan Petrovic.