HIBERNIANS 1 BALZAN 3
Balzan inflicted a first defeat on the newly-crowned champions Hibernians.
Balzan took the lead on 19 minutes when Henry Bonello could not partially parry Mifsud Triganza’s close-range effort but the referee awarded the goal after the Hibernians goalkeeper clawed the ball from over his own line at his second attempt.
The second half started on a promising for Hibernians. In fact, Failla’s cross from the left sailed towards the far post but Jackson Lima’s swerving shot finished on the side-netting.
Shy the hour mark, Jackson Lima swung in a dangerous cross but Christian Cassar, the Balzan goalkeeper leapt out of his line to punch the ball away from Hibernians striker Jorginho.
In the 70th minute, Failla’s cross from the left wreaked havoc in the Balzan defence who struggled to take the ball away from Andrew Cohen. The ball rolled to substitute Luis Andre de Milo but his shot finished just wide.
In next to no time, the ref had to deal with another contentious episode as Bonello hacked down the advancing Luke Sciberras. He pointed to the spot and showed Bonello the red card, much to the dismay of the protesting Hibs goalkeeper and fans. Jurgen Borg replaced Jonathan Pearson but the young goalkeeper could do nothing to stop Piccioni’s effort from the spot.
Undeterred, the newly-elected champions continued to push forward and Jackson Lima’s piledriver rattled the crossbar. Another Hibs change followed, Marko Rajic coming on for Dias as Nisevic unleashed all his attacking elements. Three minutes later, Cohen sent in an inviting cross which Kristensen headed on the bar, in came Failla to bury the ball behind Cassar.
As Balzan toiled to make their numerical advantage count, Spiteri introduced new fresh legs upfront in Guerrero for Piccioni.
Balzan were struggling to contain Hibernians’ late surge, the fourth official’s board signalled seven minutes of stoppage time. But Hibernians to their cost could not contain Sciberras. And the Balzan midfielder punished Hibernians' flat-out approach again with a devastating counter-attack. He showed all his skills in a single burst of pace before deposited the ball home past Borg.