Hibs 3, Balzan 1

Hibernians moved on top of the BOV Premier League with a hard-fought 3-1 win over Balzan Youths at the Hibs Stadium this evening.

The Paolites were a shadow of the side that breezed past Birkirkara last week and an upset looked on the cards when Yessous Camilleri rose well to meet Pedrinho's free-kick and plant the ball past Hibs goalkeeper Mario Muscat after 16 minutes.

Hibs tried to hit back but they had to wait till the 35 minutes to draw level when Luis Edison unleashed a powerful curling drive that flew into the top corner of the net.

The team from Paola continued to maintain the initiative but they were finding it difficult to break down a resolute Balzan defence.

Hibs finally managed to force a second goal on 67 minutes when from an Andrew Cohen free-kick, Adrian Pulis saw his shot blocked and from the rebound Clayton Failla rammed the ball home.

However, any hopes Balzan might have had to take a point were ended two minutes from time when Jonathan Francica fouled just outside the area by Francica who was shown a second yellow card and was subsequently dismissed.

Cohen took charge of the resultant free-kick and curled the ball into the bottom left corner of the net.

Hibs player Adrian Pulis was voted as the BOV Player of the Match.