Msida St Joseph 0
Hibernians 2
Scerri 22; Failla 50
Hibernians chalked up three valuable points in their bid to stay in the upper reaches of the Premier League table after they eased past Msida St Joseph at Corradino yesterday.
Thanks to yesterday's comfortable victory, the Paolites have joined champions Valletta on the 16-point mark, just two points behind new leaders Sliema Wanderers and one behind Birkirkara whom Hibs meet at the Centenary Stadium on Wednesday.
Hibernians were a step ahead of their opponents and after leading by a solitary goal at the end of the first half, they quickly notched a second to seal the issue after the interval as Msida struggled to make a contest of yesterday's match.
Patrick Curmi's resources were severely hampered by the absence of striker Marcos Aurelio, who was ruled out with a knee injury, while Tyrone Farrugia and Pedro Dos Santos Calcado were both serving a one-match ban.
The Msida mentor tried to compensate for his team's deficiencies by adjusting tactics as Kurt Magro was deployed as a lone striker with the experienced Andre Rocha Da Silva supporting him as an advanced midfielder.
On the other hand, Hibs coach Mark Miller had no injury worries as he fielded his strongest team, led up front by Terrence Scerri and Andrew Cohen.
Miller had four players across midfield, namely Christian Callejas, Clayton Failla, Tekumu Mbongo and Rumen Galabov. This formidable quartet blotted out Msida to the extent that Mario Muscat was not called to make one save during the first half hour.
The match started full of promise for the Paolites who bossed their opponents around and pegged them back in their own half as they sought an early goal to set them on the right track.
With Hibs being allowed time and space on the ball, the 'home' supporters sensed that this was going to be a rather easy afternoon for their team after a long break from Premier League football.
Midway through the first half, the Msida rearguard succumbed to Hibs' incessant pressure. Failla crossed for Scerri who somehow managed to keep the ball at his feet before sliding a low shot past the diving Matthew Camilleri.
The Saints fashioned their first attempt at goal five minutes from half-time through Dino Cachia whose shot was well saved by Muscat.
Just before the end of the first half, Mbongo did well to loft the ball towards the centre of the area but Scerri sent his header over the bar.
The second half had just begun when Magro finally had a sniff at goal with a low shot that failed to deceive the experienced Muscat.
On 50 minutes, the match was as good as over when Galabov chipped a perfect cross towards Failla who calmly beat Camilleri to establish a healthy cushion for Miller's side.
Failla could have added another goal on 68 minutes. The speedy midfielder, who last month made his debut for Malta in the 1-0 defeat to Iceland in a friendly, did well to sidestep a tackle before curling a shot that narrowly missed the target.
Damage limitation must have been on Curmi's mind when he brought on Elliot Navarro on the right side of midfield as Kevin Mifsud was given instructions to patrol central defence along with Kenneth Spiteri.
This substitution helped Msida to regain some composure but they continued to struggle to create scoring opportunities.
Two goals to the good, Hibernians eased their grip on the proceedings as the second half moved on.
At times, the match seemed more like a training session rather than a top-flight encounter as Miller has now set his sights on the tougher encounter awaiting his squad against Birkirkara on Wednesday evening.
Msida St Joseph
M. Camilleri-6, S. Grima-5, A. Spiteri-5, K. Spiteri-5.5, S. Vella-5.5 ('69 E. Navarro-5), K. Mifsud-6, A. Farrugia-6, A. Da Silva-5.5, D. Cachia-5.5 ('75 K. Grech), C. Camilleri-5 ('55 M. Camilleri-5), K. Magro-5.5.
Hibernians
M. Muscat-6.5, E. Herrera-6 ('79 L. Grech), A. Pulis-6.5, A. Xuereb-6.5, J. Caruana-6, T. Mbongo-7, C. Calleja-6.5, R. Galabov-7, C. Failla-7.5, A. Cohen-7 ('84 J. P. Farrugia), T. Scerri-7.5.
Referee: Chris Lautier.
Yellow cards: Da Silva; Vella; K. Spiteri; Xuereb; Galabov.
BoV player of the match: Clayton Failla (Hibs).