Hibernians 0
Tarxien Rainbows 1
Denni 45
Tarxien Rainbows ended a 23-year wait to beat bitter rivals Hibernians in the Premier League as Denni Rocha Dos Santos's spot kick put his team on the verge of Championship Pool football this season.
It was Tarxien's first league win over their neighbouring rivals but more importantly all but sealed their place in the Championship Pool as they are now five points clear of rivals Ħamrun Spartans and Floriana.
The Spartans are out of the equation after losing to Valletta in yesterday's second match and Floriana will only remain in contention if they beat Sliema Wanderers this afternoon.
The last time Tarxien had beaten Hibernians was on March 15, 1987, when Frankie Muscat scored the all-important goal on the hour mark, Tarxien's current assistant coach Michael Church was defending the team's goal, Hibs coach Mark Miller was a Rabat Ajax player and the goalscorer Denni was a five-year-old boy playing football on the beach of Rio de Janeiro.
If there is any consolation for the Paolities, then it was that they had met a Noel Coleiro team in magnificent form. Tarxien maintained their push for a championship Pool berth with the momentum created in the previous three games in which they beat Msida and high-flying Qormi and came back to draw against Valletta.
Triston Caruana was handed a starting role in midfield alongside Chris Camilleri. This change was enforced because first-choice midfielder Christian Callejas was sidelined with injury. At least, Miller had Mario Muscat back in goal after the Hibernians skipper missed last week's stalemate against Floriana due to suspension.
The Paolities lined up in a 4-2-4 formation that, since the arrival of Miguel Lopes De Pina and Elton Morelato, has become Hibernians' default shape with Andrew Cohen and Etienne Barbara providing the width on the flanks.
On his part, Tarxien Rainbows coach Noel Colerio was able to name the same starting line-up that drew against Valletta on Sunday.
Hibernians started brightly, but once Lopes De Pina headed wide from a Triston Caruana free-kick inside the first five minutes, their weaknesses were brutally exposed.
Once it became apparent there was little substance to Hibernians' boldness up front and Lopes De Pina and Morelato were expected to conjure miracles in their forward isolation, the Rainbows eased into ascendancy.
The Rainbows, who had lost all their last nine matches against their fierce rivals, looked lively from the outset with Denni and Justin Grioli proving a constant threat to the shaky Hibernians' rearguard.
A sublime one-two led to Anderson Riberio flicking a return pass into Mark Tanti's path but his deft touch deserted him in the box and slashed the ball high and wide after eight minutes.
Shortly afterwards, David Camilleri's long-range shot was well saved by Mario Muscat.
While Hibernians soaked up the pressure, they carried very little attacking threat of their own - Morelato's shot curled well over the bar.
After 25 minutes, Grioli was the provider when he squared the ball to Ribeiro who wasted the chance by hesitating and allowing Caruana to make a challenge.
After 35 minutes, Denni produced the kind of magic expected from him, after a great solo run down the right wing, the Brazilian cut in on goal but his shot from 20 metres shaved the bar.
And there was better to come from Denni, when he stormed his way towards the edge of the box and the Rainbows midfielder was hacked down in the box by Chris Camilleri. The Brazilian took responsibility of the penalty and crashed home an unstoppable shot past Muscat just before the interval.
Hibernians brought on twin brothers Yan and Elkien Cauchi at the start of the second half in a bid to address the problem of isolation up front and to provide extra cover on the flanks.
Tarxien suffered an early blow in the second period when Denni limped off to be replaced by Gianluca Calabretta after struggling following a heavy challenge by a Hibernians' defender.
With the game now finely balanced, half-chances fell to Lopes De Pina who had a goalbound flying header blocked as the Rainbows defended comfortably.
Then on the hour mark, Tarxien keeper Anthony Curmi raced out of his line to collect a looping cross from Cauchi, only to let the ball run loose with Ryan Mintoff reacting quickly to clear the danger.
Hibernians' last chance to salvage something fell to Barbara but it was not to be as he fired his effort wide.
Hibernians
M. Muscat-5, J. Caruana-5, E. Herrera-5 ('46 E. Cauchi), A. Pulis-5, J. Pearson-5, T. Caruana-6.5, C. Camilleri-4.5 ('46 Y. Cauchi-6), A. Cohen-5, M. Lopes De Pina-5.5, E. Morelato-5.5 ('72 B. Camilleri), E. Barbara-5.
Tarxien Rainbows
A. Curmi-6, S. Sadowski-5, M. Caruana-6.5 ('69 K. Magro), D. Camilleri-6.5, E. Pereira-6, A. Ribeiro-6, M. Tanti-6.5 ('80 L. Vella Critien), A. Decesare-7, Denni-6 ('50 G. Calabretta), R. Mintoff-6.5, J. Grioli-7.
Referee Marco Borg.
Yellow cards Lopes De Pina, Cohen, Barbara, Caruana.
BoV player of the match David Camilleri (Tarxien Rainbows).