First-half flurry sees Stripes through against troubled Hibs

Birkirkara 3
Fenech 12, 25; Lattes 28;
Hibernians 1
Pisani 83;

Birkirkara struck three quick goals in the opening half-hour yesterday to dispose of a beleaguered Hibernians team and join Tarxien Rainbows in second place in the standings.

The Malta champions did just enough to win the points as they fully profited from Hibs’ poor defensive display in the first half to practically assure themselves of victory at the half-time break.

Hibs tried hard to put up a fight to their opponents but, again, they were let down by a spate of mistakes in the back which left them with a mountain to climb.

Indeed, their hopes of avoiding the Relegation Pool are fast fading away as they remained second from bottom on eight points.

Before kick-off, the Paolites got a boost as Scottish defender Matt Clarke recovered from hamstring trouble and was named in the starting formation along with compatriot Richie Hart who returned from suspension.

Jean Paul Farrugia and Jonathan Pearson were also back in the Hibs’ XI as Paulo Sereno, Aaron Xuereb and Steve Pisani started among the substitutes.

Birkirkara made two changes from the team that beat Floriana last week. Karl Pulo and Joseph Zerafa were back at the expense of Alan Tabone and Simon Zahra who had to be content with a place on the bench.

The match looked lively in the early stages and Hibs had a golden opportunity to forge ahead after seven minutes when Paul McManus found himself clean through but his run was blocked by Birkirkara goalkeeper Michael Fraser. The Scottish forward took the loose ball but his grounder was cleared to safety by the alert Patrick Borg.

The Paolites paid dearly for that miss as on 12 minutes Birkirkara took the lead.

Paul Fenech won possession in the Hibs’ half. He exchanged passes with Michael Galea before speeding through and beat Mario Muscat in the low corner of the net.

Miller’s men were stunned and two minutes later they almost conceded a second goal when Emiliano Lattes squared the ball to Shaun Bajada who saw his drive pushed away by Muscat.

Hibernians’ response arrived on 18 minutes. Hart’s delivery fell into the path of Clarke who saw his header finish just over. A minute later, Triston Caruana tried his luck from the distance but his effort was easily dealt with by Fraser.

Birkirkara soaked up the pressure and struck again on 25 minutes when Bajada’s dipping cross found Lattes who quickly laid the ball to the sprinting Fenech. He unleashed a powerful drive that gave Muscat no chance.

Hibs were clearly struggling now and three minutes later Birkirkara made it 3-0.

Thomas Paris’s long ball found Lattes who burst into the area and beat Muscat with an angled drive.

That three-goal Birkirkara burst had certainly left an effect on the match as the Stripes were now administering their lead with ease while the Paolites were finding it difficult to create scoring opportunities to get back in the reckoning.

Hibs had more vigour in their game as the second half got underway though. On 59 minutes Herrera found space inside the Birkirkara box to fire a shot that was partially stopped by Fraser as the Stripes defence held composure to avert danger.

Miller effected a double change on the hour when he withdrew the ineffective striking duo of McManus and Farrugia and roped in Sereno and Warren Chircop in a bid to bolster his team’s forward line.

The Paolites were unlucky 20 minutes from time when Cohen saw his screamer hit the bar with Fraser beaten.

At the other end, Pulo did well to release Bajada but the Birkirkara midfielder fired over with only Muscat to beat.

Nine minutes from time, Fenech almost clinched his hat-trick when he raced to meet Lattes’s inviting ball but he saw his shot on the turn excellently saved by Muscat.

Hibs did pull a goal back seven minutes from time thanks to substitute Steve Pisani who beat Fraser with a rasping shot.

However, there was very little time left for the Paolites to save the match.

Birkirkara
M. Fraser-6, T. Paris-6.5, P. Borg-6.5 (62 S. Zahra-5.5), R. Muscat-6.5, K. Pulo-6.5 (76 A. Tabone), S. Bajada-6.5, P. Fenech-8, J. Zerafa-6, E. Lattes-6.5, M. Galea-6 (90 R. Scicluna), A. Buhagiar-6.

Hibernians
M. Muscat-5, E. Herrera-6, M. Gauci-4 (74 S. Pisani), J. Pearson-5.5, M. Clarke-6, B. Kristensen-5, R. Hart-6, A. Cohen-5.5, P. McManus-5 (59 P. Sereno-5), J.P. Farrugia-5 (59 W. Chircop-5), Z. Levnaic-6.5.

Referee: Fyodor Zammit.

Yellow cards: McManus, Zerafa.

BOV Player of the match: Paul Fenech (Birkirkara).

Attendances: 1,693.