Brave Msida dent Hibs' top-six hopes

Msida St Joseph 2
Hibernians 0

The sceptre of the Relegation Pool continues to haunt Hibernians.

Locked in an intense four-way fight for a berth in the Championship Pool, Hibs were expected to edge closer to the comfort zone when they squared up to Msida St Joseph at their home ground in Corradino but for the umpteenth time, the Paolites failed to deliver.

Two goals in the final 10 minutes gave the resilient Msida a 2-0 victory over Hibs who, having dominated large swathes of possession and created the better chances, were thwarted time and again by Msida goalkeeper Matthew Camilleri who had an excellent debut for his new club.

Hibs deserved better from this encounter but credit must be given to Msida who hung on before the pace and flair of their foreign players, especially Priso Doding, rewarded their counter-attacking ploy.

This defeat left the Paolites sixth in the table, one point ahead of Hamrun Spartans who have a game in hand. Hibs are now poised for a potentially do-or-die showdown with the Spartans in their final second round match.

Narcise Abada Fish, Hibs' newly-signed midfielder from Cameroon, was handed his debut by coach Robert Gatt.

For the first time this season, Gatt named all four of Hibs' 'foreign' players yesterday as Ndubisi Chukunyere, who has Maltese citizenship, was joined by Nigerian Uzeh Edafe, Argentinian midfielder Pablo Doffo and Fish. A Hibs official told The Sunday Times that they received the go-ahead from the Malta FA to field their four 'foreigners' after the interpretation of the rule was clarified by the association's top brass.

Hibs were deprived of the services of Edmond Agius, suspended, but Malta striker Terrence Scerri was certified fit enough to start on the bench.

The only notable absentee from Msida's formation was Tyrone Farrugia who was serving a one-match ban. Camilleri and Kenneth Spiteri, who started this season with Birkirkara, made their bow for Patrick Curmi's side.

The first scoring chance came after nine minutes. Latching on to a lofted pass by Andrew Cohen, Fish lobbed the ball over Pio Sciriha but his run into the box was stopped by Camilleri.

A diagonal shot by Doffo flew wide of the far post as Hibs gradually increased their forays into Msida's half.

For their part, Msida had Priso playing as a lone striker with Adrian Farrugia and Pedro Dos Santos Calcado tasked with providing support for the Cameroon forward from the flanks.

A misplaced pass from Doffo, after 32 minutes, gifted Msida an opening as Dino Cachia retrieved possession and passed to Doding who flashed past Jonathan Caruana but Mario Muscat ran out of goal to block the danger.

At the other end, a miscued header by Stefano Grima dropped in front of Cohen who quickly released Adrian Mifsud but the latter fired wide.

On the stroke of half-time, Chukunyere was first to Cohen's cross but his near-post header lacked the power to trouble Camilleri.

Despite, badly needing a victory to assuage their Relegation Pool fears, Hibs were surprisingly subdued for much of the first half.

They enjoyed the better start to the second half, with the unmarked Mifsud hitting wide from a Failla cross.

Brisk activity by Fish saw him make headway in attack but his cross-shot was pushed away by Camilleri who, 12 minutes into the second half, distinguished himself with another fine save to palm away Edafe's goalbound header. Better off-the-ball movement by Hibs' forwards and the high work-rate of the likes of Edafe and Doffo led to the marked improvement in the 'home' team's display.

A sweeping move by Hibs had Msida on the back-foot as Cohen directed a pass to Mifsud who veered to his right before releasing substitute Ben Camilleri whose low shot from an angled position was kept out by Camilleri.

The Msida goalkeeper denied Hibs again 20 minutes from time, tipping away Mifsud's piledriver.

As the minutes trickled by, Hibs' pressure fizzled out and Msida began to show themselves more frequently in their opponents' territory.

Their sudden improvement paid off spectacularly as, with nine minutes left, Patrick Borg sent the ball into the box where Doding anticipated Adrian Pulis and lifted the ball past Muscat.

Hibs' misery deepened five minutes later as Msida were awarded a penalty after Caruana pushed substitute Gilberto Dos Santos off the ball as the latter was about to shoot at goal. Dos Santos drilled a low shot to Muscat's right and into the net to seal the points for Msida.

Hibs were unlucky not to pull one back when Doffo's screamer cannoned off the crossbar.

In stoppage time, Camilleri denied Hibs once again with a one-handed save from Doffo's shot and, seconds later, an effort by Cohen was deflected away for a corner.

Msida: M. Camilleri-8, P. Sciriha-6, C. Brincat-7, K. Spiteri-6.5, S. Grima-6.5, A. Farrugia-5.5 ('72 G. Dos Santos-6.5), P. Borg-6.5, D. Cachia-6, R. Baldacchino-5.5 ('60 A. Spiteri-5.5), P. Dos Santos Calcado-6, P.N. Doding-7.

Hibernians: M. Muscat-5, T. Fleri Soler-5 ('83 T. Scerri), A. Pulis-6, J. Caruana-6.5, C. Failla-6, P. Doffo-7, U. Edafe-6.5, N. Fish-6.5, A. Cohen-5.5, N. Chukunyere-5 ('62 B. Camilleri), A. Mifsud-5.5.

Referee: Marco Borg.

Scorers: Doding 81; Dos Santos 86 pen.

Yellow cards: Baldacchino; Farrugia; Doding; Spiteri.

BoV Player of the match: Matthew Camilleri (Msida St Joseph).