Hibernians 2
Cohen 45 pen.; Scerri 52
St George's 0
Hibernians are safely through to the second round of the U*Bet FA Trophy after battling their way past a stubborn St George's side at the Centenary Stadium yesterday.
The scoreline might suggest that the Paolites had a trouble-free afternoon. However, in reality, they had to contend with a battling display from the Saints, particularly in the opening 45 minutes which saw the side from Cottonera matching their more-quoted opponents in every quarter and coming close to taking the lead on more than one occasion.
But, once the Paolites got the breakthrough they wanted on the stroke of half-time, they never looked back as they took control of the proceedings and duly sealed the match with a second goal to set up a second-round meeting with neighbours Tarxien Rainbows next weekend.
Hibs coach Mark Miller had no foreign players in his starting formation as Uruguayan midfielder Christian Callejas and Rumen Galabov, the Bulgarian utility man, were ruled out with injury while Alexis Tekumo Mbongo, the Cameroon winger, started on the bench.
Jean Paul Farrugia was declared fit for the match but Adrian Pulis was out with a hamstring injury.
As expected, Hibs tried to impose their play right from the outset as they sought an early goal to kill off their Division One opponents.
On 13 minutes, the Paolites were unlucky when Andrew Cohen picked up possession just outside the area and curled the ball towards the top left corner only to be denied by the upright.
Hibs were seeing more of the ball but for all their possession they were struggling to create any scoring chances.
On 25 minutes, Cohen's defence-splitting pass put Edward Herrera through but the wingback was stopped in time by St George's goalkeeper Andrea Gatt.
Three minutes later, St George's almost struck when Iro Curmi was first to a Lawrence Mizzi free-kick. His dipping header surprised Muscat who had to backtrack quickly and tip the ball over to a corner.
The match was evenly balanced now with Hibs failing to impose their superiority and finding it hard to break down St George's' resistance, mainly due to their poor distribution of the ball in the final third of the pitch.
Three minutes from the break, it was St George's who again came close when from a Mizzi corner, Muscat hesitated and Benoir Fenech's header clipped the upright before finishing out of play.
However, it was Hibs who broke the stalemate right on the stroke of half-time when Cohen's deft footwork forced Emanuel Sevasta to floor the Malta international forward in the box and the referee immediately pointed to the spot.
Cohen took responsibility and fired the ball past the diving Gatt.
On the restart, Miller withdrew Kurt Formosa and drafted in Mbongo as he looked to settle the tie in Hibs' favour as quickly as possible.
The team looked more determined now and on 52 minutes they doubled their lead when Clayton Failla's cross found the towering Scerri who outmuscled his marker and headed the ball home.
This second goal settled the match as the Paolites looked comfortable while administering their lead as the Saints' fighting spirit fizzled away.
Hibs could have added more goals to their tally. Mbongo flashed past his marker on the right before setting up Scerri whose stinging shot just missed the upright.
A minute later, Scerri was again released by Cohen but his low shot was easily dealt with by Gatt.
On 81 minutes, John Nwomba almost pulled one back for St George's but the Nigerian lifted the ball over with only Muscat to beat.
That was the closest St George's came to scoring as Hibs kept their opponents at bay to secure their place in the next round.
Hibernians
M. Muscat, E. Herrera, K. Formosa ('46 A. Mbongo), A. Xuereb, C. Failla, J. Pearson ('67 T. Caruana), A. Cohen, J.P. Farrugia ('84 L. Grech), T. Scerri, J. Caruana, J. Xerri.
St George's
A. Gatt, K. Grech, A. Bonello, S. Sciberras ('84 T. Thomas), E. Sevasta, I. Curmi ('70 G. Bonello), J. Nwomba, L. Mizzi, E. Amaira, B. Fenech, E. Degabriele.
Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.
Yellow cards: Mizzi, Scerri, Sciberras, Xuereb.