Sliema Wanderers 4
Mifsud Triganza 15; Barbara 40, 53; Lima 46;
Hibernians 0
Sliema Wanderers ended their first-phase commitments with a comfortable victory over Hibernians in a one-sided encounter.
There was never a shred of doubt as to where victory was heading to as the Blues, inspired by the running of man-of-the-match Etienne Barbara and Clayton Failla, ripped the struggling Hibs apart.
But, Sliema’s efforts failed to earn them a place in the Championship Pool as Ħamrun’s win over Vittoriosa and Marsaxlokk’s 2-2 draw against Qormi left the Blues in seventh place.
Sliema coach Danilo Doncic had Jackson Lima and Mark Scerri, who skipped the 1-0 win over Floriana through suspension, back in the fray. Striker Obinna Obiefule was suspended and Tunisian striker Chakib Lachkhem was dropped to the bench.
Miguel Ciantar was unavailable due to a knee injury.
Hibs coach Mark Miller had lanky defender Adrian Pulis back after he regained his fitness but Matt Clarke was ruled out with knee trouble.
As expected, Hibs opted to play without some regular players who were on three yellow cards. In fact, defenders Aaron Xuereb and Ryan Camilleri and striker Paul McManus all started on the bench.
Mathematics showed that Sliema were still in with a chance of reaching their top-six objective and they attacked from the outset. After three minutes, they were awarded a free-kick on the left and Jackson Lima’s delivery flew dangerously across goal but no Sliema players were available to poke the ball home.
Hibs’ response arrived on 10 minutes when Andrew Cohen drifted a ball in the Sliema box but Clifford Gatt Baldacchino cleared before Steve Pisani could prod home.
However, it was Sliema who forged ahead on 15 minutes. The Blues were awarded a free-kick just outside the area and Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza curled the ball into the top corner of the net.
On 21 minutes, Patrick Osei almost gifted Sliema a second goal when the Ghanaian midfielder’s poor backpass was intercepted by Failla whose shot was blocked by Mario Muscat, the Hibs goalkeeper.
Sliema were clearly on top and on 23 minutes Steve Bezzina’s throughball released Barbara but he was denied by the alert Matthew Gauci.
On the half hour, the Wanderers almost doubled their lead when Jackson Lima picked a poor clearance but his effort flew just over.
Two minutes later, Barbara’s cross picked the unmarked Mifsud Triganza who failed to direct his header towards goal.
Mifsud Triganza missed another golden opportunity 10 minutes from the break when he fired over from a few metres out. However, Sliema’s second goal was in the air and it came on 40 minutes.
Jackson Lima served Barbara who unleashed a powerful drive from just inside the area that gave Muscat no chance.
Sliema scored again in their first attack after the changeover. Only 35 seconds had elapsed from the restart when Failla freed Jackson Lima who rammed home.
Hibs were numbed. Lima received from Barbara and quickly passed to Failla whose firm drive was deflected away for a corner by Jonathan Pearson.
Goal no.4 duly arrived on 53 minutes when Failla pulled the ball back for the unmarked Barbara who had little difficulty beating Muscat.
Now, with the points safely in Sliema’s bag, all ears were glued to the radios as updates from the two other drama-filled ‘deciders’ were aired to the Ħamrun ground.
The focus returned to the field of play 17 minutes from time as Sliema’s Alex Muscat made his long-awaited return following a long-term knee injury.
Unfortunately, the Malta wing-back was unable to finish the match as he was stretchered off a few seconds before the final whistle.
Sliema received some encouraging news after the match as the indications are that Muscat has only suffered a muscle strain.
Sliema Wanderers
V. Szentpeteri-6, J. Briffa-6, J. Mifsud-6, M. Scerri-7 (73 A. Muscat), J.P. Mifsud Triganza-7 (69 C. Lachkhem-6), S. Bezzina-7, C. Gatt Baldacchino-6, J. Lima-7.5, R. Bajada-7, C. Failla-7.5 (83 A. Spiteri), E. Barbara-8.
Hibernians
M. Muscat-4, M. Tabone-4, J. Pearson-5, M. Gauci-5, E. Herrera-5 (57 B. Kristensen-6), R. Hart-6, P. Osei-5, B. Fairbairn-5, A. Cohen-5 (73 J.P. Farrugia), S. Pisani-4.5, A. Pulis-5.
Referee: Marco Borg.
Yellow cards: Hart; Tabone.
BOV player of the match: Etienne Barbara (Sliema).
Attendance: 400.