Hibernians 1
Edison 75;
Mosta 1
Babangida 40;

Hibernians have become adept at snatching a draw from the jaws of defeat as for the third time running, including the FA Trophy tie against Nadur Youngsters, they succeeded in avoiding defeat.

Yesterday, the Paolites were staring defeat in the face when, with less than 15 minutes left, they trailed Mosta 0-1 with one man down. Had the score stayed like that, second-placed Valletta would have had the opportunity to reduce the gap further but championship stuff is made of great comebacks and yesterday Branko Nisevic’s Hibs hit back to salvage a point against all odds.

Cohesion, team spirit and hard work were the hallmarks of Mosta’s performance against the Paolites. However, in the end they were let down by an unfortunate defensive blunder.

Nisevic’s decision to include Jackson Lima to replace Clayton Failla, suspended, necessitated some positional changes as he deployed a three-man defence with two fast wing-backs – Joseph Mbong and Johann Bezzina – playing alongside Lima in 3-4-1-2 configuration. Upfront, Edison partnered Jorginho with Cohen assigned probing duties behind the front duo.

Mosta coach Peter Smith prioritised speed over strength as newcomer Haruna Babangida was preferred to Matteus and Michael Dawood replaced Diogo. Omar Borg played in goal as Kyle Gerada was out with a shoulder injury.

Hibernians strode forward from the word ‘go’.

They were dominating possession but toiled to breach the Mosta defensive lines as Tyrone Farrugia and Yannick Ossok were vigilant at the back and when they succeeded in going beyond the Blues’ wall with fast exchange of passes between Jorginho and Edison, the leaders found Borg up to the task.

On 20 minutes, the Mosta goalkeeper was prominent when pulling off a point-blank save to keep out Jorginho’s effort after Bjorn Kristensen had swung the ball towards Edison who squared it towards his fellow countryman.

But Babangida’s powerful running on the flanks and the fast, direct movement of his forward colleagues Ian Zammit and Dawood had the slow-moving Hibernians defence in a tangle.

On one occasion, Zammit sliced the opponents’ defence wide open with a through-pass for Rodriguez Ekani but the wingback made a hash of controlling the ball.

On 31 minutes, Borg pushed away Edison’s angled effort after Cohen’s astute movement.

Mosta stunned their more-quoted opponents five minutes from half-time, when Dawood darted on the right before setting up Babangida who got the deftest of touches to send the ball past Bonello.

Nisevic must have had a go at his players at half-time as Hibernians were lacking their usual flair.

Not so can be said of Mosta who early in the second half issued another reminder of their fighting spirit when Farrugia threw his body at Edison’s feet to block his attempt.

Farrugia was a rock at the back but credit should be given to Ossok for some very sound defensive covering. As a result, Hibs could never run into their usual smooth gear.

So, it was inevitable that the leaders relied on set-pieces to apply some pressure on the Mosta goal but yesterday they could not rely on Failla’s qualities and it showed after 61 minutes when Tarabai’s free-kick soared high and wide.

Drama was to follow when Hibernians were reduced to 10 men as Rodolfo Soares was red carded after hauling down substitute Matteus to end his serious venture towards the Hibs box.

From the free-kick, Bonello tipped Roberts’s effort over the bar.

Yet, the next time Hibernians got a glimpse of the Mosta goal, they equalised.

Kristensen’s deflected cross put Borg in an awkward situation. The goalkeeper charged out of goal but collided with team-mate Farrugia and Edison pounced on the defensive blunder to volley his shot into the net.

Numerical parity was restored soon after when Ryan Grech was dismissed after earning his second booking for fouling the goalbound Cohen and the proceedings opened up.

Seven minutes from time, the impressive Dawood charged down the right wing before releasing Roberts at the far post but the former Floriana player saw his effort pushed away by the alert Bonello.

At the other end, Jurgen Degabriele, who replace Mbong, wasted a brilliant chance to score a winner for Hibs two minutes from time.

Running on to Jorginho’s pass, Degabriele miscued his shot from an ideal scoring position.

Hibernians
H. Bonello-6.5, R. Soares, J. Pearson-6, J. Mbong-5.5 (64 J. Degabriele-5), A. Cohen-7, B. Kristensen-7, J, Bezzina-5 (72 T. Tabone Desira), A. Agius-6.5, L. Edison-6.5, Joringho-6, Jackson Lima-5.5.

Mosta
O. Borg-7.5, K. Pulo-6.5, T. Farrugia-7, Y. Ossok-6.5, K. Magro-6.5, G. Roberts-6.5, H. Babangida-6.5 (64 Matteus-5), I. Zammit-6, R. Grech, R. Ekani-6, M. Dawood-7.

Referee: Fyodor Zammit.

Yellow cards: Soares, Grech, Lima, Roberts.

Red cards: Soares (H) 68; Grech (M) 78.

BOV player of the match: Omar Borg (Mosta).

Standings