KOPA Challenge Cup games went ahead the weekend with the promise of the final being played at Barnet FC Underhill Stadium motivating all the clubs still in it.
KOPA Challenge Cup Round 2
New Salamis 5 Panthea 0: New Salamis went to town beating last year’s winners Panthea, on this form New Salamis must be favourites to win the KOPA Challenge Cup. The reds took the lead from the 31st minute when George Gregoriou cut inside on the edge of the 18 yard box and drill a left footed shot straight into the bottom corner of the net. The second goal in the 36th minute came from Kyri Portou after a great pass from Steve Velandia Kyri drilled it into the roof of the net.
Half time it was 2-0 Panthea got off to a bad start in the second half when their own Theo Daniels scored an own goal. New Salamis increased their lead in the 71st minute with Dave Hicks and George Sifonios scored in the 80th minute to give New Salamis a 5-0 win and now meet Olympia in the quarters Finals of the Challenge Cup.
Pendayia 0 AEL 1: The first half saw a defensive nervous display from both teams and it showed there was a frantic air about the game when two AEL players were sent off just before the break.
The second half showed both teams again not being able to create chances and it took a penalty in the 60th minute awarded to AEL which George Michael converted to give AEL a 1-0 win and now move on to play Omonia in the quarter final of the Challenge Cup.
Olympia 0 Anorthosis 0 (2-0) after extra time: The two second division promotion hopefuls played out a tight game at Broomfield Park finishing full time 0-0. Olympia then went on to score a goal on either side of the extra time break to win 2-0 with goals from Rafael and Kevin and now go on to play League Champions New Salamis in the quarter final.
KOPA Challenge Cup Quarter Finals
Rizokarpasso 3 Aradippou 2: Aradippou must be really upset with losing this Challenge Cup quarter final game to Rizokarpasso after leading 2-0 within the first ten minutes with goals from Fahid and Metis.
Rizo were able to get the game back to 2-2 with both their goals coming from Ben Andreas. There was attack after attack in this game and in the dying minutes of the game Dean Barker scored the winner from the penalty spot giving Rizokarpasso a 3-2 win and now go to the semi finals where they will play the winners of the Omonia versus AEL Quarter Final.
Dynamo 2 Cetinkaya Cinar 3: Cetinkaya Cinar were coasting 2-0 in this game with goals from the 40th minute with a Volkan free kick from the edge of the box and in the 52nd minute a Metin volley.
Dynamo got it down to 2-1 with a great free kick goal from Anthony Macdonald and in the 60th minute they equalised with a goal again from Anthony Macdonald in injury time and within a minute Cetinkaya Cinar recovered their lead with a 30 yard blaster from Hassan Ali and now play the winners of the New Salamis or Olympia in the Semi Final.
Division Two
Arachne 1 Apoel 2: Second division leaders and already promoted Apoel struggled in this game versus much improved Arachne who were leading 1-0 from the 15th minute with a goal from Adam. Michael Spencer then equalised in the 50th minute for Apoel who then increased their lead in the last minute of injury time with a goal from Mark Sophocleous to give them a 2-1 win.
Komi Kebir 3 Cyprus Youth (KLN) 1: Much improved Komi Kebir move to fourth place with this win making them a strong promotion candidate after a comfortable win over KLN. Komi were 3-0 up with the first goal from Nick Seyhoe , then Volkan scored twice for Komi one straight from a corner. KLN’s lone goal was scored by Jemal in the 65th minute.
LFA Challenge Cup Semi Final
FC Tripimeni 1 Groundhoppers 0 : In a closely contested game Tripimeni had to wait until the 88th minute with a Ahmet Rifat goal to give them a 1-0 win to go into the final of the LFA Cup to play Eltham Town. Parikiaki and the KOPA League extends their congratulations on this win.
Revised KOPA Challenge Cup Draw
Quarter Final
Omonia v AEL
Olympia v New Salamis
Semi Final
Cetinkaya Cinar v Olympia or New Salamis
Rizokarpasso v Omonia or AEL
Final to be played at Barnet FC Underhill Stadium 27th of May 2012 at 1pm