Substitute Scerri lifts 10-man Hibs

Hiberians 2
Doffo 5
Scerri 90
Pietà Hotspurs 1
Sulas 25

Down to ten men from the last minute of the first half and having been outfought by a sprightly Pietà Hotspurs team, Hibs were in danger of suffering the embarrassment of losing to one of the two relegated teams. The score was one-all when Ndubisi Chukunyere was sent off for dissent but his team-mates, buoyed by the introduction of striker Terence Scerri, rallied in the second half to grind out a 2-1 victory with a last-gasp goal from their towering substitute.

Only pride was at stake in this encounter between the leading team in the Relegation Pool and the already-demoted Pietà but thanks to their three-point haul, Hibs have ensured that they will finish seventh.

Hibs coach Robert Gatt refrained from putting out his best team as the likes of Andrew Cohen, Aaron Xuereb, Scerri and Adrian Mifsud were among the substitutes. Adrian Pulis and Ben Camilleri were out injured.

Rumen Galabov and Karl Pulo were two notable absentees from the Pietà squad after they received a one-match ban following their team's 1-0 win over Mqabba last weekend.

Hibernians took only five minutes to break the stalemate. Chukunyere directed a pass to Pablo Doffo who evaded Pietà's offside trap and drove a low shot past Miguel Montfort.

It was not before midway through the first half that Pietà went close to an equaliser but Martin Deanov's curling free-kick sailed wide.

Less than two minutes later, the Hotspurs were back on level terms. Latching onto a through-pass from Svetlan Kondev, young forward Francesco Sulas surged forward and swerved the ball beyond the reach of the on-rushing Daniel Balzan. Sulas might have doubled his tally moments later but this time, the young Hibs goalkeeper blocked his shot.

A mishit clearance by Ryan Mintoff left the way clear for Sulas to run at goal but he could not get enough power behind his shot and Balzan saved.

For much of the opening half, Chukunyere, who was deployed as a lone striker, cut a lonely figure up front, starved of any decent service from his team-mates. Pietà certainly moved forward with more vigour and purpose than their opponents whose evening took a turn for the worse on the stroke of half-time when Chukunyere, having just been booked for dissent, was shown the red card by referee Andrè Arciola, presumably for use of foul language. The Nigerian had been incensed by the referee's failure to award him a free-kick after he appeared to have been fouled as he was running towards goal.

Chukunyere's premature exit led Gatt to rope in Scerri to lead Hibs' attack and switched to a three-man defence. Mintoff made way for the Malta striker. Bar a diagonal shot by Deanov that was blocked for a corner by Jonathan Caruana, the first 15 minutes of the second half were completely devoid of goalmouth action.

From goal saviour, Caruana almost turned goalscorer. Charging upfield as Hibs launched a raid on the Hotspurs' fort, Caruana burst through the stationary Pietà defence after receiving a pass from Triston Caruana and sprinted into the box but his angled grounder was touched away for a corner by Miguel Montfort.

Despite being down to ten men, Hibs intensified their attacking endeavours and Scerri was unlucky not to score when his low strike came off the base of the far post.

At the other end, Kyle Darmanin, a second-half substitute for Dominic Mifsud, sped towards goal as Deanov advanced on the right but the latter's cross just eluded the Pietà striker. The Hotspurs then endured a scare when Clayton Failla's shot rattled the bar.

The intensity of the proceedings increased as the second half moved on. Scerri blasted wide after receiving another fine cross from Agius and Pietà's Kondev had a central shot stopped by Balzan.

Five minutes from time, Hibs came close to hitting a late winner when Caruana embarked on another fine run from deep in his own half, passed to Doffo who in turn lofted a long ball towards the steaming Scerri whose robust drive from an inviting position forced Montfort into a commendable save.

The Paolites hit the jackpot in stoppage time when Doffo again swung over a teasing cross into the centre of Pietà's penalty area and Scerri flicked the ball past Montfort.

Hiberians
D. Balzan-6, J. Xerri-5.5, J. Caruana-7.5, R. Mintoff-4 ('46 T. Scerri-7), C. Failla-6, U. Edafe-5, J. Pearson-5 ('64 A. Xuereb), E. Agius-7, P. Doffo-7, T. Caruana-6 ('86 G. Inguanez), N. Chukunyere.

Pietà Hotspurs
M. Montfort-7, C. Cassar-5.5, S. Grech-5.5, M. Deanov-7, R. Grippa-5 ('84 S. Micallef), C. Sammut-6.5, S. Kondev-6, D. Mifsud-4 ('49 K. Darmanin), E. Herrera-5, F. Sulas-6 ('84 B. Zammit), I. Grech-5.

Referee: Andrè Arciola.

Yellow cards: Herrera; Chukunyere; Kondev.

Red card: Chukunyere (H) 45.

BoV Playrer of the match: Pablo Doffo (Hibs).