Hibernians stormed to 18 points clear at the top of the BOV Premier League standings after they brushed aside Pietà Hotspurs 3-0 at the Hibs Stadium.

The Paolites were in control right from the outset but their only notable efforts in the first half came from a Luis Edison header that was turned to a corner by David Cassar while the Pietà goalkeeper then pushed away Bjorn Kristensen’s header.

But Hibs clicked into gear after the restart and on 58 minutes Cassar just managed to smother Cohen’s corner-kick with Lima’s header cleared off the line by Fortunato.

A minute later, Jorginho burst into the area but his diagonal effort was pushed away by Cassar.

Hibs took the lead on the hour. The Hotspurs defence failed to clear Failla’s corner kick with the ball falling into the path of Luis Edison who sent acrobatic volley past Cassar.

The Hotspurs were rattled and on 62 minutes they grabbed a second when Failla picked up a short clearance and hit scorching drive that gave no chance to Cassar.

The woodwork denied Hibs a third goal on 72 minutes when Jorginho saw his firm drive coming off the upright.

It was all Hibs now and a minute later, Cassar showed great reflexes to repel Edison’s shot and from the rebound Cohen fired over.

Two minutes from time Pietà could have pulled a goal back when Christian Grech was brought down in the area by goalkeeper Bonello but from the resultant penalty the Hibs no.1 pushed away Pisani’s shot.

The Hotspurs were immediately punished from this miss as a minute later, in a quick break, Edison broke free and beat Cassar with a firm drive.