Hibernians 4
Edison 2 ,45, 90; Failla 43;
Qormi 0

After earning two consecutive draws which cost them top spot, Hibernians finally got their winning act back with a devastating attacking display that saw them cruise past Qormi at the Hibs Stadium yesterday.

Hibernians’ first-touch, pass-and-move football was mesmerising at times and they will again enjoy the view from the top of the Premier League at least until Valletta face Marsaxlokk in today’s only match at the Tedesco Stadium.

Although Luis Edison dos Santos will grab the headlines with a clinical hat-trick, however, praise should go to all the players fielded by coach Mark Miller yesterday as they put in a five-star display.

Last year at Vittoriosa, Edison showed flashes of brilliance but he could not seem to make a real impact on his side, often drifted out of games.

At Hibernians, with a more attack-minded system in place and more intelligent players such as Marcelo Dias, Clayton Failla, Rodolfo Soares and Andrew Cohen amongst others, the Brazilian has emerged as the Paolities’ star performer this season.

Moreover, Miller built around his side a solid defence, spearheaded by Diego Balbinot, that enables the attack-minded players go and score the goals.

Yesterday, Miller made only one change from the disappointing draw against Floriana, Steve Pisani stepping into the boots of Edward Herrera who was among the substitutes.

On the other side, the inclusion of new signing Stuart Duff McLaren was one of three changes in the Qormi team from the three-all draw with Sliema as Jeffrey Chetcuti was back in the fray after serving suspension while Dino Cachia was preferred to Steve Wellman.

Stephen Azzopardi’s decision to include the Scottish midfielder to fill the void of Qormi skipper Joseph Farrugia necessitated some positional switches with Cachia and Chetcuti detailed to provide extra cover to the defence in a 4-1-4-1 module.

Giant flags and banners were raised as the two sets of supporters filled every corner of the Hibs Stadium, ready for a duel between this season’s surprise package, Qormi, and Hibernians the team showing the best football so far.

The game was barely two minutes old when Roderick Sammut sent Edison crashing to end Hibernians’ first venture towards the Qormi penalty area.

The resultant free-kick, saw Andrew Cohen unleash a powerful drive that was tipped over the bar by Matthew Farrugia.

From the ensuing corner, Clayton Failla swung the ball towards Marcelo Dias who back-headed it towards Edison and the Brazilian rammed the ball home with a shot on the turn.

Qormi also had to regroup after the early loss of Daniel Nwoke to injury. Joseph Chetcuti came on and Hibernians almost took advantage of the readjustment as Dias’s goal-bound shot was blocked by Farrugia.

But the Yellow-Blacks’ after-noon took a turn for the worse as a strangely subdued Qormi, who sorely missed the flair and composure of injured Joseph Farrugia, hardly got a glimpse of their opponents’ goal in the opening half.

After 37 minutes, Matthew Farrugia produced an athletic save to block Edison’s close-range shot in two attempts.

Avoiding defeat never looked likely for Qormi from the moment the excellent Paolities made it 2-0 with a stunner.

In the 43rd minute, Rodolfo Soares laid the ball for Failla who fizzed a brilliant shot past Farrugia and into the corner.

Edison and Dias both turned in majestic displays, the former Vittoriosa striker in particular giving Sammut a torrid time. The two combined brilliantly to set up the third goal albeit in a controversial manner.

Just before half-time, Edison made it 3-0 with a cute lob. Matthew Bartolo tried to cover the ball for the onrushing Farrugia and cleared the ball on the line but referee Kevin Azzopardi adjudged his shot had crossed the line and awarded the goal when television replays clearly showed otherwise.

The second half started slowly with Hibernians allowing Qormi to come at them. The outcome was a midfield battle with chances – plentiful for Hibernians in the first half – drying up.

Yet, in the 46th minute, Failla pounced on a careless back pass from Joseph Chetcuti but the former Sliema midfielder shot wide.

Hibernians, however limited Qormi to few clear chances, but by far the best of them fell to Jorginho in the 59th minute. The Brazilian controlled the ball and cleverly walked it past the Hibs defenders but then, with the goal at his mercy, smashed it over when he could have just tapped it in. But Hibernians joy was marred by a serious injury to goalkeeper Mario Muscat who was stretched off after a nasty collision with substitute Stephen Wellman.

In came Luke Bonnici who was immediately drawn into the thick of action to make a smart stop on Luke Sciberras’s pile-driver, nine minutes from time.

There was still time for another Hibernians goal.

Edward Herrera, a 90th-minute substitute played an important part in the fourth goal, when he found Edison with virtually his first touch as the Brazilian ran on to the through-ball and cheekily lifted the ball past a bemused Farrugia.

Hibernians
M. Muscat-6 (71 L. Bonnici), R. Camilleri-6, A. Xuereb-6, S. Pisani-6, R. Soares-7, D. Balbinot-7, M. Dias-7.5 (90 Herrera), A. Cohen-6.5, C. Failla-7 (65 T. Caruana), B. Kristensen-6, L. Edison-8.

Qormi
M. Farrugia-5, R. Sammut-5, M. Bartolo-6, J. Chetcuti-5 (56 S. Wellman-5), K. Scicluna-6, J. Bondin-6, Jorginho-4.5, D. Cachia-5 (64 L.Sciberras), A. Bello-Osagie-5, D. Nwoke (15 Jos. Chetcuti-5), S.Duff-4.

Referee: Kevin Azzopardi.

Yellow cards: Sammut, Cohen, Muscat, Scicluna, Jos. Chetcuti.

BOV player of the match: Luis Edison do Santos (Hibernians).

Attendances: 1,367

Standings