Hibernians 2
Soares 30; Pisani 73;
Ħamrun Spartans 1
Shields 81 pen;
Revelling in the surprise elimination of bitter adversaries Valletta at the hands of Qormi, Hibs had further cause for celebration last night as they attained a deserved 2-1 win over Ħamrun Spartans to secure their place in Sunday’s U*Bet FA Trophy final.
Roared on by their vocal fans, the Paolites eradicated fears that the departure of coach Mark Miller would jolt their chances of KO glory with a commanding display.
After a somewhat tumultuous season in which they narrowly avoided the drop, Ħamrun pinned their hopes on success in the Trophy to salvage their campaign but for all their commitment and hard work, Stefan Sultana’s men were generally outshone by their brisk opponents before a late penalty goal briefly resurrected the Spartans’ hopes of sending the game to extra-time.
By the time Dene Shields reduced the arrears from the spot on 81 minutes, Hibs had been comfortable, leading as they were with goals from Rodolfo Soares and Steve Pisani.
The Reds’ late rally shook Hibs out of their comfort zone but they kept their composure to withstand their opponents’ frantic efforts, giving their fans a timely boost following the shock exit of Miller who is set to take over as Valletta coach.
Caretaker coach Richard Mercieca, a long-time Hibs servant, may not be a household name in Maltese football but, together with former Nigerian forward Ndubisi Chukunyere, he did a brilliant job in keeping his players focused and motivated.
Faced with the absence of first-choice players Clayton Failla and Luis Edison, both suspended, Mercieca awarded starting roles to Adrian Pulis and Steve Pisani.
Marcelo Dias made a swift recovery from the injury that curtailed his participation in the first half of Hibs’ final league match against Valletta as the Brazilian was on the bench.
Ħamrun coach Stefan Sultana sent out his strongest formation with Roderick Fenech retaining his place in the heart of defence after his run-out in the Mqabba game.
Fenech endured a difficult start, within two minutes of referee Fyodor Zammit’s initial whistle, losing his balance when trying to put the brakes on Edward Herrera’s run into the box. The Ħamrun centre-half just managed to stay on his feet and shackle Herrera as the ball broke to Andrew Cohen who drove wide from an inviting position.
In Tarabai’s absence, Cohen was deployed at the tip of Hibs’ 4-1-4-1 formation with Pisani and Herrera on the wings and Jackson Lima and Bjorn Kristensen operating as advanced midfielders.
Under Miller, Jason Lee Vandelannoite was mostly used as a flank defender or centre-half but the Mercieca-Ndubisi tandem asked the Belgian to perform screening duties in front of Hibs’ defence.
The game was eight minutes old when Omar Borg parried away a dangerous Lima free-kick.
Apprehension coursed through the Reds players when the Spartans keeper fumbled a seemingly inno-cuous effort from Herrera as the ball rolled to Cohen but Borg did enough to block the Hibs forward.
Having spent much of the opening 15 minutes ensconced in their own half, the Reds threatened to take the lead with their first notable attempt. Sammut delivered a teasing cross from a left-wing corner but Anderson Ribeiro headed over.
Sultana opted for a 4-2-3-1 strategy with Ribeiro up front and the trio of Shields, captain Gaetan Spiteri and Sammut roaming behind.
The woodwork came to Ħamrun’s rescue on 24 minutes when Cohen’s curler from a free-kick, given for a foul on Lima, smacked against the near post.
Massimo Grima was lucky not to be given a yellow card for a poor tackle on Cohen. But any sense of injustice Hibs might have felt quickly fizzled out as Lima’s dipping cross from the resultant free-kick soared into the penalty box and Rodolfo Soares rose above everyone to head the ball into the net.
Grima threatened to make instant amends for his mistake as his long-range piledriver forced Mario Muscat into conceding a corner.
The ability of the Hibs forwards and midfielders to move around with speed, with or without the ball, gave them a distinct edge as the Spartans struggled to match their opponents’ intelligent play. This situation induced the Reds to resort to long balls to Ribeiro and Shields.
From one of these hopeful crosses, Ribeiro drifted into the box only to end on the turf after colliding with Jonathan Pearson. “Penalty” screamed the numerous Spartans fans but Zammit was unmoved.
Outsmarted in the opening half, Ħamrun clearly had to bring their more creative elements, the likes of Shields, Sammut and Spiteri into play, to have any chance of getting an equaliser.
Five minutes into the second half, Fenech leapt well to meet Sammut’s corner but his header was cleared.
Dias then came on for Pulis while Sultana threw Gianluca Calabretta into the mix, the winger replacing Daniel Zerafa.
Ħamrun’s optimism rose when Calabretta won a free-kick in an inviting position but Grima’s swinging effort was headed away by Cohen.
The atmosphere in the stands heated up as the two sets of fans exchanged taunts and the players raised their tempo. Latching on to Kristensen’s through-ball, Dias powered into the box but his central effort was easily blocked by Borg.
Tempers threatened to boil over when Spiteri exchanged words with Kristensen, leading Calabretta and Pisani to indulge in a bout of shoving. Zammit cautioned the misbehaving trio.
Yet, this incident only seemed to spur on Pisani who, on 73 minutes, sped past Gauci to reach a through-ball before ramming past Borg.
Two goals up, Hibs threatened to inflict the killer blow when Dias wriggled his way through from the left before laying the ball for Pisani whose flick was blocked by Borg.
On 80 minutes, Ħamrun gained a tonic when they were awarded a penalty after Ryan Camilleri upended Ribeiro in the box. Shields drilled his shot into the top corner to revive his team’s hopes.
Peter Anizoba, who had just come on for the limping Dias, had a diagonal shot repelled by Borg.
The Spartans sought to intensify their pressure as the minutes ticked away. In the first minute of stoppage time, goalkeeper Borg surged upfield after his team won a free-kick but Sammut’s set-piece cross was cleared.
Hibernians
M. Muscat, J. Pearson, R. Soares, R. Camilleri, A. Pulis (62 M. Dias, 82 P. Anizoba), J. Vandelannoite, J. Lima, E. Herrera, B. Kristensen, A. Cohen, S. Pisani (87 J. Bezzina).
Ħamrun Spartans
O. Borg, R. Fenech, R. Hartvig, S. Bonnici, M. Gauci, M. Grima, D. Zerafa (65 G. Calabretta), K. Sammut, G. Spiteri (75 L.J. Agius), D. Shields, A. Ribeiro.
Referee: Fyodor Zammit.
Yellow cards: Sammut; Herrera; Pearson; Pisani; Calabretta; Spiteri; Camilleri; Anizoba; Grima.
Attendance: 1,872.