Ħamrun 1
Ortega 3 pen.
Hibernians 4
Micallef 30 og, Bonnici 48 og, Grech 57, Farrugia 90

Early pacesetters Hibernians maintained their charge at the top of the table with a 4-1 win over Ħamrun Spartans.

As flattering as the score may seem, victory matured courtesy of two unfortunate own goals from the Hamrun defenders which turned the tide in the Paolites favour after the Spartans had stormed ahead in the third minute through a Ronaldo Ortega penalty.

Manolito Micallef's own goal on the half hour and Mark Anthony Bonnici experiencing similar anguish early after the restart turned the match in Hibs' favour.

These two goals had a demoralizing effect on the Spartans and it was no surprise when substitutes Leighton Grech and Jean Paul Farrugia sealed the points for the leaders as Mark Miller's honeymoon continued with another positive result.

Hibernians were forced into one change from the team that drew 1-1 against champions Valletta last week as Alexis Tekumo Mbongo was serving a one-match ban. His place was handed to youngster Triston Caruana.

The Spartans could not have hoped for a better start as they were awarded a penalty inside the first minute after goalkeeper Mario Muscat was judged to have floored Micallef as the player attempted to control the ball. Muscat had to be attended for the knock before taking his position on the goal line as Ortega calmly converted the kick to give Ħamrun the lead.

Shocked by this turn of events, Hibernians struggled for the next few minutes and Gaetan Spiteri tested Muscat with a low shot from inside the penalty area which the experienced custodian parried well.

Minutes later Micallef's inswinging cross found Diego Armando Cucciardi whose header was well blocked by the Hibernians goalkeeper.

The first minutes of the match promised a keen encounter and the potential for a hatful of goals as Ħamrun sought to break their duck and register their first win of the season.

On ten minutes, Hibernians lost Galabov to injury and young Jean Paul Farrugia was roped in midfield. The youngster made an instant impact as his relentless running and flair proved vital to lifting the Paolites to victory.

Buoyed by this early lead, the Spartans kept their opponents at bay until the half hour when an unfortunate own goal proved to be their undoing.

Scerri's seemingly harmless cross-shot was deviated past a stunned Sean Sullivan by Micallef whose attempt to clear the ball went terribly wrong with the ball rolling into the net.

Four minutes from half-time, Spiteri served Ortega with a measured cross inside the area but the Brazilian striker failed to make contact with the ball due to the close marking of Aaron Xuereb.

On the stroke of half-time, the Spartans should have regained the lead when Rupert Mangion found Spiteri outside the area. The nippy forward beat the offside trap, snaked with the ball past two defenders but then failed to shoot at goal and a good chance went astray.

Three minutes into the restart, Hibs were in the lead and unbelievably it was another own goal that did the damage.

Scerri was once again the mastermind as he drifted inside the area from the left flank and his cross was diverted into the net by Bonnici.

Things started looking gloomy for Ħamrun on 57 minutes when substitute Grech, who had been on the pitch for less than two minutes, planted a low shot into the net.

The fourth and final goal came on the stroke of time as man of the match Scerri was once again the provider and youngster Farrugia the protagonist as he headed into the net to compound another miserable evening for Ħamrun Spartans.

Ħamrun
S. Sullivan-5.5, M.A. Bonnici-5 ('61 A. Attard-5), D. A. Cucciardi-5.5 ('76 K. Magro), Z. Levniac-5.5, R. Ortega-6, S. Meilak-6 ('65 S. Sultana-5), R. Mangion-6, N. Galea-5.5, A. Noronha-5.5, G. Spiteri-6, M. Micallef-6.

Hibernians
M. Muscat-6.5, J. Caruana-7, E. Herrera-6.5, A. Pulis-6.5 ('84 E. Cauchi), A. Xuereb-6.5, C. Failla-6.5, C. Callejas-7, T. Scerri-6.5, J. Pearson-7, R. Galabov ('10 J. P. Farrugia-8), T. Caruana-6 ('55 L. Grech-6.5).

Referee: Chris Lautier.

Yellow cards: Farrugia, Callejas, Pearson, Mangion, Caruana.

BoV player of the match: Terrence Scerri (Hibernians)