Hibernians 1
Lima 20;
Birkirkara 0

Hibernians halted Birkirkara’s charge towards a second successive championship yesterday as a Jackson Lima goal was enough for the Paolites to overcome the champions and blow the race for the title wide open.

Tactical organisation and determination were the hallmarks behind Hibs’ victory as Branko Nisevic’s men played a tactically-perfect match to hand Birkirkara their first defeat in the Championship Pool and stop their four-match winning streak.

After taking a deserved lead through Lima, the Paolites opted for prudence which saw them conceding the initiative to their opponents and putting all their personnel behind the ball as they tried to close all avenues to their goal.

It was a risky tactic so early in the match but the Paolites showed great defiance and, inspired by the towering presence of their two central defenders Igor Radusinovic and Jonathan Pearson, they succeeded in frustrating the Stripes time and again to hang on to an unlikely victory and revive their ambitions for the title even though they’re still seven points adrift of the leaders.

For Birkirkara, this setback was a kick in the teeth as now their lead over second-placed Valletta has been trimmed to just two points ahead of next Sunday’s showdown between the two major title contenders

Birkirkara coach Paul Zammit kept faith in the same set of players that played a blinder against Sliema Wanderers in midweek. Midfielder Rowen Muscat was again missing as he is still recovering from knee surgery.

Nisevic was forced to make a change as Jurgen Borg was ruled out by injury and Daniel Balzan was given the nod to start in goal.

Serbian midfielder Zoran Levnaic failed to recover from an abdominal injury while Ryan Camilleri was ruled out with a one-match ban. Pearson was handed a recall to fill the void left by Camilleri while Jean Paul Farrugia started upfront at the expense of Andrew Cohen who was surprisingly left on the substitutes bench.

The match turned out to be an abrasive affair with tackles flying from both sides early on and referee Malcolm Spiteri staying alert to keep the players’ emotions in check.

On 11 minutes, Gareth Sciberras’s delightful pass enabled Paul Fenech to make a run inside the box but he miscued his effort with the ball failing to hit the target.

Hibs, however, were clearly not overawed and were showing a lot of desire in their play.

Their sprightly approach was rewarded on 20 minutes when they surged ahead.

Lima raced towards the Birkirkara half before releasing Obinna Obiefule who muscled his way through and squared back to Lima who was on hand to poke home.

Birkirkara tried to hit back and on 22 minutes they came close to level matters when Jhonnattann found space at the edge of the Hibs area but as he was about to pull the trigger he was foiled by a timely Radusinovic challenge.

A quickly taken free-kick by Ryan Scicluna almost surprised Balzan but the dipping effort flew just over the bar.

As expected, it was Birkirkara who were dominating possession but they struggled to break down the compact Hibernians defence.

Eleven minutes from half-time, Shola Haruna did well to connect to Jhonnattann’s corner but his header flashed wide.

Birkirkara continued to maintain the initiative but they had to wait until the 44th minute to threaten again. Scicluna picked Haruna inside the box but his effort took a deflection off Scott Chircop and into a corner.

In stoppage time, Balzan punched Fenech’s free-kick into the path of Herrera whose attempted flick was pushed over the bar by Scicluna.

The match maintained the same script at the start of the second half as Birkirkara continued to see more of the ball with the Paolites soaking the pressure and trying to hit their opponents with quick breaks.

On 57 minutes, Birkirkara came agonisingly close when from a central free-kick, Jhonnattann saw his drive blocked in two attempts by the diving Balzan.

Balzan was quick to boot his clearance upfield where the speedy Farrugia anticipated keeper Justin Haber only to be foiled by Alejandro Mendoza’s block before Zach Muscat clear the ball away.

Just past the hour, Nisevic tried to add more fresh legs when he withdrew the tiring Farrugia and introduced Cohen.

Zammit responded by taking off Scicluna and replacing him with striker Ronaille as Bir-kirkara looked to add more firepower in attack.

Eighteen minutes from time Jhonnattann played in Sciberras who came face to face with Balzan but the Stripes midfielder was stopped by the keeper before Timothy Tabone Desira cleared to safety.

Time was running out for the Stripes who were finding it difficult to penetrate in the final third.

Two minutes from time, Pearson came to Hibs’ rescue with a timely tackle on the unmarked Ronaille and just before the final whistle Balzan palmed away Jhonnattann’s set-piece shot as the Paolites held on for a hard-earned victory.

Hibernians
D. Balzan-6.5, T. Tabone Desira-6, J. Pearson-7, S. Chircop-6.5 (90 B. Muscat), I. Radusinovic-7.5, B. Kristensen-6.5, C. Failla-6.5 (90 J. Degabriele), O. Obiefule-6, L. Edison-6.5, J. Lima-7, J.P. Farrugia-6.5 (60 A. Cohen-5.5).

Birkirkara
J. Haber-5.5, Z. Muscat-6 (80 T. Vella), N. Vukanac-6, A. Mendoza-6, J. Zerafa-6 (84 R. Camenzuli), E. Herrera-5.5, G. Sciberras-6, P. Fenech-6, R. Scicluna-6 (65 Ronaille-5), S. Haruna-5.5, Jhonnattann-5.5.

Referee: Malcolm Spiteri.

Yellow cards: Lima, Fenech, Kristensen, Scicluna, Sciberras, Chircop.

BOV Player of the match: Igor Radusinovic (Hibernians).

Attendance: 1,537.

Standings

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Birkirkara	26	21	2	3	61	22	37
Valletta	26	19	4	3	61	19	35
Hibernians	26	17	2	7	64	34	30
Sliema	26	13	9	4	50	29	27
Mosta	26	13	4	9	49	43	24
Balzan	26	8	4	14	28	45	14
Floriana	26	10	5	11	37	43	18
Tarxien	26	7	5	14	35	48	18
Qormi	26	7	4	15	43	50	17
Naxxar Lions	26	8	5	13	31	48	16
Vittoriosa	26	6	4	16	30	57	13
Rabat Ajax	26	1	4	21	19	70	4