Hibernians ended a poor run of three matches without a win when they edged St Andrew’s 1-0 at the Tedesco Stadium.

The Paolites were off to a fast start and after four minutes Jackson Lima played in Joseph Mbong but the Malta U-21 striker was denied by the onrushing Jake Galea.

St Andrew’s hit back strongly and three minutes later Bon Che was unlucky to see his header coming off the post.

On 10 minutes, Hibs found the breakthrough.

Jackson Lima picked up a short clearance on the edge of the area and hit a rasping volley that flew into the net.

Seven minutes from the break, Dunstan Vella’s cross-field pass released Mbong who turned past Che but was blocked by the onrushing Galea.

St Andrew’s looked to step up their game on the restart and on 55 minutes they were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the area and Joseph Farrugia’s curler just missed the upright.

A minute later, Andrew Hogg, the Hibs goalkeeper, had to dive full stretch to intercept Paz’s cross-shot before Kyrian Nwoko could stab the ball into the net.

At the other end, Galea almost regaled a second goal to Hibernians.

The St Andrew’s goalkeeper charged out of his goal to try and anticipate Bjorn Kristensen who was running to meet Mbong’s throughball. But the Saints no.1 shot the ball into the Hibs midfielder who seized possession but fired into the sidenetting in front of a gaping goal.

Hibs almost made it 2-0 when Lima chipped the ball towards Degabriele who with only Galea to beat, he lobbed the ball over the bar.

The Paolites suffered a blow on 63 minutes when Mbong was dismissed for a second bookable offence leaving his team with a player less for the last half hour of the match.

Despite being with a man down, Hibs were still managing to keep their defensive solidity as St Andrew’s tried as they might were struggling to create any openings.

They finally threatened eight minutes from time when Hogg had to be alert to turn over a bar a cross-shot from Godwin McKay, who had just replaced Felix Udoh.

Hibs midfielder Jackson Lima was voted as the BOV Player of the match.