Hibernians had to fight hard to beat the challenge of mid-table side Ħamrun Spartans.

The FXDD Premier League leaders were stretched to the limit by a side that showed great resilience before going down 9-8.

Doubles for Xavier Saliba, Jose Lopez and Melvin Borg, added to goals from Celino Alves, Mark Zammit and David Bobokhidze, saw the champions through in the end.

Spain’s Cristian Cuadros Silva proved to be the Spartans’ inspirational player after hitting the target five times. Mohammed Elamari, Martin Cacciatolo and Martin Svihalek also contributed with goals for Ħamrun whose efforts, though bold, were ultimately not enough to cause an upset.

Second-placed Luxol maintained the pace with Hibs after defeating neighbouring rivals Pembroke 8-2 as Balzan stayed third with a 3-0 victory over San Ġwann.

For Luxol, William Barbosa and Ibrahim Tarik scored four goals each to help their team chalk up their 14th win of the season.

Gabriel Dobre’s Balzan enjoyed a positive outing with their goals coming through Boycho Marev, Andrea Dan and Nicola Del Re.

Meanwhile, Żabbar St Patrick joined Pembroke in fourth place, 13 points behind Balzan, thanks to a comfortable 9-2 win over Qormi.

Radoslav Kovachev was Żabbar’s leading scorer on the day after netting four times against Qormi.

In the First Division, Żebbuġ and Gżira won their respective games to keep their promotion hopes alive.

Żebbuġ beat Marsaskala 4-2 and Gżira, who drew their previous match, were back to winning ways with a 4-1 hammering of bottom-placed Sta Luċija.

Second-placed Qrendi failed to leapfrog Valletta at the top as they continued to drop points following a 5-3 upset to Siġġiewi.

Standings

Premier Division: Hibs 46; Luxol 44; Balzan 43; Pembroke, Żabbar 30; San Ġwann 27; Ħamrun 24; Qormi 22; Melita 17; Birżebbuġa 16; Vittoriosa Stars, Mosta 13; Żurrieq 10; Luqa, Swieqi 7.

First Division: Valletta 39; Qrendi 38; Żebbuġ, Gżira 37; Naxxar 34; Fgura 29; Marsaskala 28; Kalkara, Msida 25; Sirens 21; Siġġiewi 13; Mqabba 11; Sta Luċija 8.