HIBERNIANS   0

FLORIANA       1

Fontanella 36

Floriana won the first major honour of the 2017-18 season when they edged Hibernians 1-0 at the National Stadium.

It was Hibs were regaled with the first chance of the match after eight minutes Floriana midfielder Clyde Borg’s backpass towards goalkeeper Ini Akpan was intercepted by Bjorn Kristensen but the Hibs midfielder was blocked by the alert Enrico Pepe.

At the other end, Marcelo Dias almost committed an own goal when his back header surprised Hogg who however, soon recover to collect the ball before finishing past the goalline.

The match burst to life on 36 minutes when Juninho Cabral showed great footwork to outpace Clayton Failla and chip the ball towards Mario Fontanella who headed the ball past Andrew Hogg.

Hibernians were stunned and two minutes later Hogg had to be alert to avoid a second goal when he tipped over Steve Pisani’s long-range drive.

Hibs finally threatened on 56 minutes, when Akpan came to Floriana’s rescue produced a one-handed save to keep out Martin Kreuzriegler’s header following Bezzina’s free-kick.

Two minutes later Marcelo Dias fed Degabriele who with only Akpan to beat saw his overhead kick deviated wide the by the Floriana goalkeeper.

Maurizio Vella amost single-handedly doubled his team’s lead when he sprinted past three Hibs defenders but he fired over with only Hogg to beat.

Nine minutes from time, Miller played his last dice when he roped in Elias for Failla as he went for broke.

The Brazilian should  have pulled the Paolites level four minutes from time when he was left unmarked to connect to Joseph Mbong’s cross he incredibly headed wide to the despair of Miller.

At the end of the match, Floriana captain, Steve Pisani was presented with the trophy by the MFA vice-president Ludovico Micallef.