Hibernians 3
Edison 35; Failla 67; Cohen 88;
Balzan Youths 1
Camilleri 16;

Hibernians recovered from an early scare to see off a battling Balzan side and move one point ahead of Valletta at the top of the Premier League, albeit having played a game more.

It was far from a vintage display from the Paolites though as they struggled to break down the plucky Balzan who, after taking a surprise lead through Yessous Camilleri, worked relentlessly to try and keep the Hibs forwards at bay.

Luis Edison was once again instrumental for Hibs as the Brazilian produced a moment of brilliance to put his team on level terms late in the first half before second-half goals from Clayton Failla and Andrew Cohen wrapped up a somewhat flattering win for Mark Miller’s side.

Balzan will feel disappointed not to have gained anything from this match but coach Ivan Zammit will have been encouraged by the grit and determination shown by his players against superior opponents.

Miller, the Hibs coach, could count on Brazilian duo Diego Balbinot and Marcelo Dias after both passed a late fitness test but their fellow countryman Rodrigo Soares failed to recover from his injury.

Balzan were still without injured Albanian defender Bledjon Guga but Brazilian striker Pedrinho was back in the fray after missing the 1-1 draw with Mosta through suspension.

Hibs pressed on the accelerator straight from the outset. After nine minutes, a misunderstanding between Clifton Ciantar and Camilleri almost offered an open chance to Edison but Camilleri quickly recovered to clear the ball away for a corner.

It was Balzan who broke the stalemate on 16 minutes. The Youths were awarded a free-kick deep into Hibs’ half. Pedrinho sent a dipping cross into the area and Camilleri was on hand to head the ball past Mario Muscat.

Hibs’ response arrived on 21 minutes but Failla’s long-range shot drifted wide.

Five minutes later, the Paolites came agonisingly close to an equaliser when Edison ran past two Balzan defenders before releasing Failla who incredibly fired wide with only goalkeeper Fredrick Tabone to beat.

The ‘home’ team were struggling to impose themselves on the game as Cohen and Edison were denied time and space by the solid Balzan rearguard with the result that Dias was finding himself too isolated up front.

Ten minutes from half-time, Hibs were awarded a corner which was taken by Failla whose cross fell into the path of Steve Pisani but the latter’s low drive flashed wide.

Hibs needed something special to redress the imbalance and it duly arrived on 35 minutes when Pisani teed up Edison who unleashed a powerful curling shot that gave Tabone no chance.

Boosted by this goal, the Paolites worked hard to gain the initiative but Balzan continued to defend well and, on the stroke of half-time, almost struck again when Pedrinho’s delivery found Camilleri but this time his header finished wide.

On the restart, Hibs remained the more enterprising side. Four minutes into the second half, Edison set up Dias in the box but the Brazilian’s header was too central to unsettle Tabone.

Balzan kept battling hard and their stout defending was frustrating the Paolites. On 64 minutes, Miller withdrew the disappointing Dias and roped in Tristan Caruana.

Hibs’ persistence paid off two minutes later when, from a Cohen free-kick, Adrian Pulis miscued his shot but the ball fell to Failla who rifled home.

Fifteen minutes from time, Pedrinho almost surprised Muscat with a dipping shot but the Hibs no.1 tipped the ball over.

Balzan’s Brazilian forward threatened again three minutes from time when his swinging shot from a free-kick finished just over.

However, any hopes Balzan might have had of grabbing an equaliser evaporated two minutes from the end when Edison was fouled just outside the box by Jonathan Francica who was shown a second yellow card followed by the red.

Cohen curled the resultant free-kick into the bottom-left corner of the net to seal Hibs’ win and extend their unbeaten start to four games.

Hibernians
M. Muscat-6, R. Camilleri-6, A. Pulis-7.5, D. Balbinot-6, E. Herrera-6, C. Failla-6, B. Kristensen-6.5, M. Dias-5 (66 T. Caruana-6), A. Cohen-6.5, S. Pisani-5 (85 P. Anizoba), L. Edison-7.

Balzan Youths
F. Tabone-5, J. Francica, C. Ciantar-6, R. Forace-5.5, Y. Camilleri-6, D. Grima-7, N. Tasic-6, Pedrinho-6.5, M. Ciantar, F. Bernandes-5 (54 R. Farrugia-5.5), L. Micallef-5.5 (57 B. Bondin-5).

Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.

Yellow cards: Caruana; Ciantar; Francica; Bondin.

Red card: Francica (BY) 88.

BOV player of the match: Adrian Pulis (Hibs).