Tarxien Rainbows 1
Ribeiro 16
Hibernians 2
Cohen 79 pen.; Pulis 83
Hibernians were back to winning ways when they struck two late goals to claim all spoils in a highly-eventful clash against neighbours Tarxien Rainbows at the National Stadium yesterday.
This was a show of resilience from the Malta champions, who despite being on the backfoot for most of the match, kept battling hard until their efforts were finally rewarded with two late goals that turned the tide in their favour just when another upset was looming large for the champions.
The match took a bad turn for Hibs when Anderson Ribeiro fired the Rainbows ahead after 16 minutes. Tarxien remained the better team and had enough chances to kill off their more illustrious opponents but were denied by some excellent saves from goalkeeper Mario Muscat who eventually marred his day with a red card two minutes from time.
The season is still in its infancy but this victory was vital for Hibs who are now three points behind surprise leaders Qormi.
Hibs coach Mark Miller was again hampered by the absence of regulars Aaron Xuereb, Rumen Galabov and Christian Callejas, all struggling with injury. However, Jonathan Caruana was declared fit to start.
Noel Coleiro, the Tarxien coach, received a timely boost following the recovery of schemer Denni but Ryan Grech is still unavailable.
The enterprising Rainbows went on the offensive right from the start and after seven minutes Steve Sadowski's centre was nodded by Gianluca Calabretta into the path of Denni whose diagonal shot flashed past the upright.
Two minutes later, the bar denied Tarxien a shock lead when Calabretta outmuscled Adrian Pulis before sending a dangerous cross-shot that came off the woodwork.
Tarxien's persistence soon paid off when Ribeiro controlled Mark Tanti's pass just outside the area before beating Muscat with a calibrated inswinger.
On 23 minutes, Ribeiro almost struck again but this time Muscat dived full stretch to push the menacing shot away.
The Hibs goalkeeper again came to his team's rescue on 28 minutes when he was on the alert to punch away Everton Pereira's headed attempt from inside the box.
Eleven minutes from the break, Triston Caruana put Oleg Malasenoks through but the Latvian miscued his shot.
The Paolites grew in stature towards the end of the first half and keeper Anthony Curmi showed fine reflexes to tip over Edward Herrera's stinging volley.
Denni had a glorious opportunity to put the match beyond Hibs soon after the restart. He received a good ball from substitute Manuel Caruana but his shot was too central to trouble Muscat.
As the minutes ticked away, tension started to creep inside Tarxien but for all their possession Hibs were still struggling to test Curmi in goal. Instead, it was Tarxien who could have struck again 13 minutes from time when David Camilleri picked the unmarked Ribeiro but the latter dallied and the chance was lost.
The Rainbows paid dearly for that miss as two minutes later Hibs drew level.
Tarxien defender Ryan Mintoff was judged to have fouled substitute Elkien Cauchi in the area and the referee immediately pointed to the spot. Andrew Cohen stepped up for the penalty and made no mistake.
Hibs were not finished yet as seven minutes from time Triston Caruana's corner flew into the path of the towering Adrian Pulis who powered a header past Curmi.
Drama was not over though as Tarxien almost drew level from the kick-off.
Ribeiro spotted Muscat out of his goal but the keeper ran back in time to tip the speculative ball to a corner. From the flag-kick Ribeiro hammered the ball home but the 'goal' was disallowed for an infringement.
More was to follow as two minutes from time Muscat received a second yellow card for time wasting.
Having already effected all three substitutions, Hibs had to rely on Jonathan Caruana to guard goal for the rest of the match.
However, despite the five minutes of added time, the Paolites held tight to complete a fine comeback win.
Tarxien Rainbows
A. Curmi-6, S. Sadowski-6 ('85 J. Shead), D. Camilleri-6, G. Calabretta-7, E. Pereira-6, A. Ribeiro-7, M. Tanti-6.5 ('58 M. Caruana-5.5), A. Decesare-6 ('70 W. Chircop-5.5), L. Vella Critien-6, Denni-6.5, R. Mintoff-5.
Hibernians
M. Muscat, E. Herrera-6 ('88 R. Camilleri), A. Pulis-7, J. Caruana-6.5, J. Pearson-5, M. Tabone-5.5 ('60 E. Cauchi-5.5), T. Caruana-6.5, E. Barbara-6, A. Cohen-6, O. Malasenoks-6, L. Grech-5.5 ('66 Y. Cauchi-6).
Referee: Clayton Pisani.
Yellow cards: Muscat, Pulis, Grech, Calabretta, Denni, Ribeiro, Shead.
Red card: Muscat (H) 88.
BoV player of the match: Anderson Ribeiro (Tarxien Rainbows).