Tarxien Rainbows bagged their first win after nine matches when they edged Naxxar Lions 1-0 at the Hibs Stadium.

It was a crucial victory for the Rainbows who have now moved away from the relegation zone.

The Rainbows were off to a bright start as they held most of the possession with a Triston Caruana shot from a free-kick finishing just over after 21 minutes.

Naxxar came agonisingly close on 25 minutes when Pape Gueye burst clear on the right before sending a low cross towards Terence Vella who saw his effort  cleared off the line by Alex Cini.

But it was Tarxien who struck on 34 minutes when Hevia picked Aboulezz in the area and the Tarxien midfielder outmuscled Ibok Edet before firing a firm low shot that had the better of Azzopardi.

On the stroke of half-time, Gueye pounced on some hesitant defending from Bugeja but the Senegalese striker fired wide under pressure from goalkeeper Sean Mintoff.

Zerafa was clearly unhappy with his team’s performance and on the restart he withdrew David Reano and Vella and roped in Uchenna Eminike and Mattia Del Negro.

Emenike quickly started to leave his mark as on 47 minutes he whizzed past Cini before picking up Daren Falzon in the area but the Naxxar striker headed over.

Two minutes later, Cini somehow kept out Gilmar’s shot from a free-kick and from the rebound Falzon’s grounder came off the upright.

Naxxar kept up the pressure and on 56 minutes Angus Buhagiar connected to Gilmar’s corner but his header was blocked by Cini.

With the match entering the final 15 minutes the pressure was starting to tell on the Lions who were banking on long balls on Gueye and Emenike with little result as the Tarxien defence held firm.

Tarxien midfielder Carlos Hevia was voted as the BOV Player of the match.