Balzan 2
Elton 20, 45+ pen;
Hibernians 3
Pulis 36; Cohen 45; Nwoba 51;

Five goals and three red cards were the legacy of this absorbing encounter which produced further evidence of Hibs’ fighting spirit and resilience.

Coming from four wins on the trot, Hibs looked a smart bet to dismiss the challenge of Balzan without much trouble before switching their attention to their much-awaited clash with rivals Valletta but football has a habit of throwing up the unexpected.

The Paolites looked well on their way to a comfortable win when, having cancelled out Elton’s opener for Balzan, they went 2-1 up late in the first half thanks to Andrew Cohen but, in a trice, Hibs found themselves with their backs to the wall following a dramatic sequence of events.

Mario Muscat, the Hibs goalkeeper, was dismissed for a penalty-box foul and Balzan made it 2-2 from the spot just before half-time.

A man short and facing a Balzan team determined to attain their first win, Hibs were up against it but, despite having Marcelo Dias dismissed on 71 minutes, they held out for the win after John Nwoba had put them ahead after the interval.

Balzan, who lost Malcolm Licari to a red card only a minute after he had entered the fray, gave as much as they got but loose marking in set-piece situations and Hibs’ brave defending undid their efforts to take something from the match.

Jean Paul Farrugia was preferred to Nwoba in the only change in the Hibs formation from the 3-0 victory over Rabat Ajax.

Suspension deprived coach Ivan Zammit of Brazilian forward Pedrinho and that forced the Balzan coach to make a series of positional changes as Renato Conceicao was assigned an advanced midfield role in support of Elton, the team’s attacking spearhead.

Bjorn Bondin, back in the starting line-up, took up screening duties in front of Balzan’s defence as Zammit sought to stiffen his midfield. As a result of this tactical rethink, Martin Deanov, a peripheral figure in the 2-1 defeat to Tarxien Rainbows, was demoted to the bench with left-back Renie Forace taking his place.

Hibs won a corner inside the opening 20 seconds and Jackson Lima had his low grounder saved by Matthew Camilleri in the first minute.

Lima and Marcelo Dias missed the target with rising efforts as Hibs forced the early tempo.

The game was 16 minutes old when Balzan threatened to forge ahead. Conceicao slipped an intelligent ball to Elton who managed to evade the challenge of the on-rushing Muscat but his drive sailed over.

With Hibs down to 10 men, as Rodolfo Soares required medical attention, Balzan took full advantage as they opened the scoring.

Latching on to a diagonal pass from Christian Caruana, Elton surged into the box and lifted the ball over the advancing Muscat and ran through to head home.

Soares was able to rejoin the fray but, as Balzan celebrated Elton’s goal, Michael Woods, the Hibs coach, effected his first substitution, Nwoba coming on for Farrugia who presumably picked up an injury.

Jamie Pace went close to doubling Balzan’s lead but his ferocious shot from an angled position finished just over.

Hibs also had a gilt-edged opportunity to redress the imbalance when Nwoba picked out Dias at the far post but the Brazilian’s close-range attempt was pushed away by Matthew Camilleri.

Hibs made it 1-1 nine minutes from half-time.

Lima whipped in a teasing cross from a right-wing corner and Adrian Pulis muscled his way through several bodies to score with a diving header.

The Paolites were now roaring forward with renewed vigour with Dias and Cohen at the heart of their attacking moves.

The two combined beautifully on the right to create an opening for Nwoba but the latter’s well-struck shot brought a brilliant save from Camilleri.

Balzan were quick to counter-attack, Conceicao holding off Pulis and Jonathan Pearson before squaring to the unmarked Matthew Mendy who poked wide with only Muscat to beat.

With the two teams committed to attack, the flurry of chances continued.

Hibs took the lead when, after Camilleri had dashed off his line and tried to head clear, the ball fell to Dias on the right wing. The Brazilian promptly guided a low pass to the unmarked Cohen who tapped home from point blank.

Hibs’ second goal came on the brink of half-time but their joy soon turned into despair as a dramatic string of events in first-half stoppage time, turned the tide in Balzan’s favour.

The Paolites were again caught at sixes and sevens at the back as Conceicao charged into the box as Balzan broke on the counter. Muscat strode out of goal to try and block Conceicao’s run but the latter tumbled to the ground as the Hibs goalkeeper dived at his feet.

Referee Adrian Azzopardi pointed to the spot and showed Muscat the red card, much to the dismay of the protesting Hibs goalkeeper and fans. The realisation that Muscat’s sending-off rules him out of the crunch match against rivals Valletta next weekend only served to exacerbate the anger of the Hibs faithful.

Daniel Balzan replaced Pulis but the young Hibs goalkeeper could do nothing to stop Elton’s angled drive from the spot.

Azzopardi was loudly jeered by the Hibs supporters as he walked towards the tunnel at half-time.

Five minutes into the second half, the Paola fans were cheering for the right reasons as their team moved in front. Lima’s corner from the right soared over the ball-watching Balzan defenders and towards the far post where Nwoba headed home.

The Nigerian-born forward should have put the 10-man Hibs 4-2 ahead when he came one-on-one with Camilleri but the Balzan keeper blocked the Nwoba’s miscued lob.

As Balzan toiled to make their numerical advantage count, Zammit introduced a forward in Deanov for Bondin.

Deanov’s first contribution was to send in an inviting cross that just eluded Dylan Grima. At the other end, Camilleri pulled off another fine save to beat away Lima’s piledriver.

The match remained lively as both teams persevered with their attacking approach.

Balzan squandered two glorious chances to equalise. Conceicao, released by Caruana, was denied by Balzan and, moments later, Grima miscued from close in after getting on the end of a low pass from Yessous Camilleri, now operating as wing-back on the right.

With 19 minutes left, Hibs suffered another setback when Brazilian forward Dias was incurred a second booking for a handball.

Dias’s sending-off left Woods’ team with nine men but the tale of red cards continued as, barely a minute after he had replaced Grima, Malcolm Licari was sent off for barging into Balzan.

Cohen nearly increased Hibs’ advantage but his chip was clawed away by Camilleri.

Six minutes from time, Lima’s curling shot sailed just wide.

Deanov had golden opportunity to equalise for Balzan when the Bulgarian glided past Zoran Levnaic in the box but his grounder was stopped by Balzan.

The Hibs goalkeeper again came to his team’s rescue when, in the dying stages, he beat away Elton’s header from Pace’s cross.

Borg resigns

Balzan president George Borg announced his resignation after his side’s defeat to Hibs.

Borg, who has already resigned a couple of times before only to be persuaded to return, was angered by assistant referee Duncan Sultana’s decision to signal a foul by Malcolm Licari on goalkeeper Daniel Balzan which led to the Balzan substitute to earn a straight red card.

According to Borg, Licari’s intervention was innocuous and the Hibs goalkeeper didn’t react so his sending off was unjust.

Balzan
M. Camilleri-6.5, Y. Camilleri-6, M. Mendy-4, S. Giglio-5, B. Bondin-5 (60 M. Deanov-6), J. Pace-6, R. Conceicao-7, D. Grima-5 (72 M. Licari), C. Caruana-5.5, R. Forace-6, Elton-6.5.

Hibs
M. Muscat, A. Pulis-6.5 (45 D. Balzan-6.5), R. Camilleri-6.5, J. Pearson-6.5, R. Soares-6.5, A. Cohen-7.5, B. Kristensen-6 (80 J. Bezzina), Z. Levnaic-6.5, M. Dias, J.P. Farrugia (21 J. Nwoba-7), J. Lima-7.

Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.

Yellow cards: Lima; Dias; Giglio; Mendy.

Red card: Muscat (H) 45; Dias (H) 71; Licari (B) 72.

BOV player of the match: Andrew Cohen (Hibs).


P W D L F A Pts
Hibernians 5 5 0 0 16 7 15
Valletta 4 4 0 0 12 2 12
Birkirkara 5 4 0 1 12 4 12
Mosta 5 3 0 2 13 9 9
Floriana 5 2 2 1 8 6 8
Sliema W. 5 2 1 2 8 8 7
Qormi 5 2 0 3 7 12 6
Tarxien 4 1 1 2 5 6 4
Hamrun 4 0 3 1 5 8 3
Balzan 5 0 1 4 7 12 1
Rabat Ajax 5 0 1 4 3 12 1
Melita 4 0 1 3 5 15 1

Playing today
(National Stadium) 6 p.m. Tarxien vs Melita; 8 p.m. Ħamrun vs Valletta.

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