Birkirkara 0
Hibernians 4
Scerri 6, 54; Cohen 15, 59 pen.
Hibernians captured the first honour of the 2009-2010 season after a 4-0 victory over Birkirkara last night earned them top spot in the Euro Cup standings thanks to a better goal difference from Sliema Wanderers.
With Sliema moving on the seven-point mark after defeating Valletta 2-0 in yesterday's opener, Hibs needed to score two goals and avoid a draw to win this warm-up competition.
Vindicating their standing as reigning Malta champions, Hibs responded to the challenge posed by Sliema with gusto as they hit not two but four goals past the helpless Birkirkara to attain a timely morale-booster ahead of their tough Champions League assignment against Montenegro's FK Mogren next week.
Mark Miller may have lost a key component of last year's title-winning team in Clayton Failla but Hibs are anything but a one-man show and they certainly proved this over the past six days, especially yesterday when their composed and vibrant performance ripped Birkirkara apart.
Miller tasked Terrence Scerri with leading the attack with Milan Cvetic, who is on trial with the Paolites, detailed to provide support for the Malta striker from the right wing.
Paul Zammit, yesterday taking charge of his first match as Birkirkara coach, kept faith with Omar Borg in goal and named two Serbian trialists in his starting XI, Nikola Vukanac and Nemanja Kokanovic.
After two minutes, Kokanovic missed a good opportunity to put Birkirkara ahead when driving his first-time shot over the bar.
It was Hibs who opened the scoring after six minutes. Cvetic's cross from a free-kick was met by Adrian Pulis whose firm header looked to have the beating of Omar Borg but the Birkirkara goalkeeper pulled off a flying save to keep the ball out of his goal. To Borg's evident frustration, Scerri was on hand to flick home from close in.
Hibs made a giant step towards winning the Euro Cup when Andrew Cohen doubled their lead on 15 minutes. The Hibs captain had an easy job guiding the ball into an untenanted net after Birkirkara had failed to halt Rumen Galabov's run and subsequent cross from the right.
Conceding two goals in 15 minutes shook Birkirkara and it took them a while to find their rhythm.
When Vukanac's free-kick took a deflection and dropped into the Hibs box, danger loomed for the champions but Jonathan Caruana stuck out his right leg to drive the ball away from Paul Fenech.
At the other end, another Cvetic free-kick sparked confusion in the Birkirkara box as Pulis again headed towards goal but Borg stood firm before play was stopped for a foul on the Birkirkara netminder.
Three minutes into the second half, Birkirkara's Trevor Cilia jinked his way through on the right before hitting a menacing cross which Hibs defender Ryan Mintoff, in an attempt to clear, headed the ball against the top of the crossbar and out of play.
Hibs quickly underlined their attacking threat when Scerri widened their advantage with an excellent finish. Cvetic provided the assist with another fine cross from the left and the advancing Scerri showed excellent poise by hitting a first-time volley past Borg.
With Birkirkara all at sea, Hibs went for the kill. Caruana freed substitute Edward Herrera and the lanky right-back sprinted into the box but was upended by Borg. Referee Marco Borg pointed to the spot and Cohen scored with an exquisite chip to seal Hibs' win.
Hibs switched to cruise control but eight minutes from time, the excellent Cohen almost scored a gem of a goal but his rasping free-kick smacked against the crossbar.
After the match, Carmelo Bartolo, the MFA senior vice-president, presented the Euro Cup trophy to Hibs captain Mario Muscat amid the chanting of the club's fans.
Birkirkara
O. Borg, T. Paris, N. Vukanac ('80 P. Borg), R. Hartvig, J. Zerafa, P. Fenech ('68 L. Sciberras), S. Bajada, A. Tabone ('64 D. Vidosavljevic), T. Cilia, A. Buhagiar, N. Kokanovic.
Hibernians
M. Muscat, A. Xuereb ('57 E. Herrera), R. Camilleri, R. Mintoff, A. Pulis ('46 L. Grech), J. Pearson, J. Caruana, A. Cohen, T. Scerri, M. Cvetic, R. Galabov ('64 Y. Cauchi).
Referee: Marco Borg.
Yellow cards: Pearson; Borg.