Hibernians 2
Failla 3 pen, 90;
Mosta 1
Bogdanovic 90+ pen;

As initial hurdles go, there can’t be many more difficult than that faced by Hibs yesterday as they opened their FA Trophy defence with a tough match against Mosta.

Making their bow in the season’s cup competition, Hibs and Mosta are likely to have ap-proached their meeting with a sense of trepidation as, on paper, these two sides are more or less on a par.

Mosta came into this game in a positive frame of mind after the headline-grabbing 1-0 win over Valletta but an already tough task became an uphill struggle when, inside the opening three minutes, the Blues fell behind from a penalty.

Their first-half woes increased when Luke Dimech was dismissed but despite their man-up situation, Hibs struggled to make their superiority count.

To their credit, Mosta improved in the second half with goalkeeper Justin Haber and Carlos Campagnoli typifying their resistance but their hopes were crushed when, in a tetchy finale, Clayton Failla eased Hibs’ nerves and Bryan Agius, who had just entered the fray, was red-carded for unsporting behaviour.

The nine-man Mosta managed to salvage some pride with a late consolation, also from a penalty, but they ultimately paid the price for their first-half inertia.

Steve D’Amato’s team selection contained no surprises as the Mosta coach fielded the same formation that started the league victory over Valletta.

The tactical module was 4-3-3 with Daniel Bogdanovic and Jonathan Bajada playing either side of Obinna Obiefule, Mosta’s attacking point.

Allan Kardeck earned his first start for Hibs as he got coach Michael Woods’s nod ahead of compatriot Anderson Ribeiro.

Kardeck was stationed at the tip of Hibs’ 4-1-4-1 approach with Andrew Cohen, Failla, Marcelo Dias and Udo Nwoko forming an advanced midfield quartet.

Less than two minutes from the start of the game had elapsed when Kardeck, seemingly chasing a lost ball inside the box, unsettled Dimech who reacted by bringing down the Brazilian.

Failla drove his spot-kick past the diving Haber to put the Paolites ahead.

That early breakthrough failed to spark the game into life as both teams struggled to make headway in attack thereafter.

On one occasion, Failla sent Adrian Pulis through on the left but the latter’s inviting ball was stopped by the leaping Haber.

Kardeck then headed wide from Failla’s free-kick. With Mosta desperately devoid of flair and inspiration, it was Hibs who remained in control.

The Blues enjoyed a promising period as the match moved past the half-hour. Zoran Levnaic stood out in the Hibs’ defence with a timely intervention to push the ball away from Bogdanovic who was shaping up to shoot inside the box. Ryan Camilleri then headed Mano Micallef’s cross away for a corner.

Mosta’s rising optimism ebbed away when Dimech, having been cautioned for his penalty-box foul on Kardeck, received a second yellow for pushing the goalbound Dias, a source of constant torment for Mosta.

Cohen produced a fine drive from the free-kick but Haber denied him with an impressive save.

The experienced goalkeeper, seemingly back to his best, kept Mosta in the game when repelling Failla’s grounder after the latter had been freed by Cohen.

Hibs survived a scare early in the second half when Bogdanovic’s free-kick was deflected by Cohen with the ball crashing against the crossbar.

Despite their numerical handi-cap, Mosta showed their intention to make a fist of it after the restart. Muscat denied them an equaliser when pushing away Obiefule’s header from Bajada’s cross.

Hibs came through their difficult start to regain a modicum of control but they rarely threatened the Mosta defence in which Campagnoli, dropping to centre-half after Dimech’s red card, a tower of strength.

One minute from time, Mosta’s hopes of forcing an equaliser fizzled out as they conceded a second penalty after substitute Firas Aboulezz was adjudged to have shoved Kardeck in the box.

Haber repelled Failla’s penalty but the wing-back scored from the rebound. More misery befell when Agius was shown a straight red card for pushing a ball boy, much to the chagrin of the Mosta fans.

More drama followed as Mosta won a penalty after Cohen was deemed to have used his hands to stop Bogdanovic’s effort.

The Malta winger powered his spot-kick past Muscat for Mosta’s consolation goal.

Hibernians
M. Muscat, A. Pulis (81 J. Bezzina), R. Camilleri, R. Soares, M. Dias, A. Cohen, B. Kristensen, C. Failla, U. Nwoko (90 B. Muscat), Z. Levnaic, A. Kardeck.

Mosta
J. Haber, M. Micallef, S. Bezzina (72 A. Cini), S. Chiemeka, L. Dimech, C. Campagnoli, R. Grech (69 F. Aboulezz), O. Zongo, D. Bogdanovic, O. Obiefule, J. Bajada (77 B. Agius).

Referee: Malcolm Spiteri.

Yellow cards: Dimech; Chiemeka; Agius.

Red cards: Dimech (M) 38; Agius (M) 90.

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