Mosta fell agonisingly short of a remarkable comeback this evening as they were defeated by the odd goal in five by Hibs.

Steve D'Amato's side was completely blown away during the opening half with three goals in six minutes.

But Mosta fought back and scored twice after the interval.

In the first half, the Paolities lulled their opponents into a false sense of security before applying a killing touch with three quick goals. In the 34rd minute Steve Pisani pounced from close range after Andrew Cohen displayed some deft footwork on the left flank to frustrate Alex Cini before putting in a teasing cross for the nippy midfielder.

Dias made it 2-0, five minutes later, when the Brazilian headed home across by Johann Bezzina. The striker's next contribution was even better, drifting past Fernando Apap before unleashing a powerful shot past Haber.

Soon after the break, probably Mosta's first half-chance of the match was snuffed out by a timely challenge by Levnaic who did enough to put the unmarked Daniel Bogdanovic off the ball after 48 minutes.

However, Mosta midfielder Jonathan Bajada, surprisingly left on the bench after his prolific role in helping Mosta avoiding the drop, came on to curl in the Blues' first goal of the season in the 58th minute.

Hibernians replied when a swerving effort from Cohen hit the post in the 65th minute. But Mosta's improvement in the second half was rewarded with another goal after 78 minutes when Danail Mitev delivered in an unstoppable free-kick to lead his side's late surge on the Hibernians goal, only for the Paolities to hold on to their slim advantage.