Hibernians 2
Edison 12; Jorginho 78;
Qormi 1
Effiong 89 pen.;
Hibernians strengthened their grip on this year’s title race when they scored a goal in each half to see off Qormi and restore their eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League.
Inspired by the creativity of Andrew Cohen and the hard running of Bjorn Kristensen and Jackson Lima, the Paolites were always in command against a Qormi side who looked unable to pose any threat to their dominant opponents.
In the end, Hibernians enjoyed another comfortable victory and, although the third round is still in its infancy, one senses that yesterday’s success pushed them closer to the title.
The unbeaten Paolites are eight points clear of their nearest rivals Birkirkara and 11 ahead of the fading Valletta who slipped up against Żebbuġ on Saturday.
Hibernians coach Branko Nisevic was boosted by the return of prolific striker Jorginho, who missed the team’s FA Trophy win over Balzan with a hamstring injury.
The Brazilian lined up alongside fellow countryman Luis Edison ‘Tarabai’ in attack as Serbian Marko Rajic was dropped to the bench.
Defender Andrei Agius, who missed the Trophy quarter-final through suspension, was back in the heart of defence at the expense of Jonathan Pearson.
Mark Miller, the Qormi coach, handed a recall to defender Alejandro Mendoza who was rested in the 7-0 rout of Sirens in the FA Trophy. The Spaniard joined Billy Berntsson and Jonathan Bondin in a three-man defence.
Swedish forward Alex Nilsson, who was on the mark against the St Paul’s Bay outfit, was not in the 18-man squad.
Prior to kick-off, Mario Muscat, who has come out of retirement to join Qormi, presented a bouquet of flowers to Cohen as a sign of appreciation for his long playing spell with Hibs with whom the former Malta goalkeeper won every honour.
Hibs were quickly into their stride, taking the lead after 12 minutes.
The goal came after a series of passes with Cohen sending a cross towards the unmarked Edison who had little difficulty tapping the ball past the diving Matthew Farrugia, the Qormi goalkeeper
The Paolites continued to dominate proceedings. On 18 minutes, Jorginho’s firm drive from the edge of the area was not held by Farrugia but the Qormi defenders cleared.
Moments later, it was the turn of Edison to have an attempt on goal only to see his effort deflected just past the upright.
Qormi tried to get more into the picture but their ploy of sending long balls towards Alfred Effiong was proving unsuccessful as the Nigerian was finding the going tough against the organised Hibs defence.
On the half hour, Jorginho burst into the area and hit a fierce angled drive that rolled across the face of goal with Edison just failing to make contact with the ball from routine distance.
Three minutes later, Miller effected his first change as the limping Steve Agius was replaced by Leighton Grech who was making a return to action from a knee injury.
Qormi threatened three minutes from the break. They were awarded a free-kick and Marcelinho’s delivery was met by Levnaic who saw his header blocked by the diving Henry Bonello, the Hibs goalkeeper.
Qormi produced some encouraging signs on the restart as on 48 minutes Marcelinho sent a fine cross towards Effiong. Andrei Agius cleared the ball into the path of Duncan Pisani whose low shot was somehow kept out by Bonello.
Four minutes later, Cohen embarked on a surging run that took him past three Qormi defenders before aiming a sweet lob that finished just past the upright.
Hibs adopted a cautious approach as they looked to administer their advantage with Qormi looking short of ideas going forward.
It was no surprise when, on 65 minutes, Miller brought on American attacking midfielder Gustavo Villalobos for Levnaic as he looked to add more flair to his attacking play.
Three minutes later, Jorginho showed excellent co-ordination to connect to Clayton Failla’s cross and hit a fierce scissor-kick that forced a diving save from Farrugia who deflected the ball on to the upright.
The match was all but settled on 78 minutes when Qormi goalkeeper Farrugia charged out of goal to cut out a long ball only to clash with team-mate Berntsson.
Jorginho exploited the situation as the Brazilian created space for a shot before depositing the ball into an empty net.
It could have been 3-0 ten minutes from time when Jean Paul Farrugia, who had just replaced Joseph Mbong, fired a fierce low drive that was somehow kept out by Farrugia.
Qormi pulled one back two minutes from time when Agius floored Pisani in the area and from the spot, Effiong dispatched his effort past Bonello. But this came too late for Qormi to force a comeback.
Hibernians
H. Bonello-6, R. De Gracia Gomes-6.5, J. Lima-6, R. Soares-6, A. Cohen-7.5 (90 J. Degabriele), B. Kristensen-6.5, C. Failla-6.5, A. Agius-6, L. Edison-7, J. Mbong-6.5 (79 J.P. Farrugia), Jorginho-7.5 (81 M. Rajic).
Qormi
M. Farrugia-5, A. Mendoza-5, Marcelinho-6.5, S. Agius-5 (33 L. Grech-5), J. Chetcuti-5 (76 B. Bondin), A. Effiong-5.5, C. Gauci-5, Z. Levnaic-6 (65 G. Villalobos-5), D. Pisani-6, J. Bondin-6, B. Berntsson-5.
Referee: Mario Apap.
Yellow cards: Berntsson; Edison; Grech.
BOV player of the match: Jorginho (Hibernians).
Attendance: 1,213.