Hamrun 2 Hibernians 4
Hibernians ended their 13-match winless streak with an empathic win over Hamrun Spartans.
Hibernians remain rooted around the bottom of the table but Mark Miller and his players can at least take comfort from an improved performance and importantly all three points.
Before kick-off, Hibernians captain Mario Muscat was presented with a memento by the club president Tony Bezzina on the occasion of his 400th league appearance in a Hibs shirt.
The game was also preceded by a minute’s silence in memory of former Malta striker Charles ‘Il-Bahri’ Muscat.
And Hibernians belied their league position with a confident start that soon bore fruit.
After 11 minutes,, Edward Herrera latched on to a pass by Bjorn Kristensen, created some space on the right flank before slipping the ball past the Hamrun keeper with a superb shot.
The Paolities have had difficulty on to leads this season and it showed after a quarter of an hour when they were clinically punished as David Camilleri drove a low free-kick through the legs of Matt Clarke and Zoran Levnaic to provide Grima with the simplest of tap-ins.
The surge in Hamrun’s confidence was instant, with keeper Mario Muscat saving from Grima’s rising effort, a minute later.
Ryan Fenech made it 2-1 after 41 minutes, receiving Spiteri’s pass in the area before Fenech swiftly transferred the ball on his favourite foot to fire a thumping left-foot shot across Muscat and into the bottom corner.
Hibernians,equalized in the 61st minute when rising high at the far post to meet Herrera’s cross, Bjorn Kristensen powered his header past Borg and into the net.
In the 73rd minute, McManus, who had not scored since October 24 produced a fine low drive into the corner to end his goal drought and raise the spirits of the Hibs fans.
A few moments later, the Spartans suffered a killer blow when Ryan Fenech was given his marching orders for the second bookable offence.
Another auspicious sign for Hibernians followed in the 90th minute when Hibernians scored four goals in the league for the first time this season as Steve Pisani dashed past the goalkeeper and flicked the ball home with panache.