Tarxien Rainbows ended a poor run of six matches without a win when they crushed Rabat Ajax 6-2 at the Hibs Stadium.

The Rainbows quickly seized the initiative and forged ahead after only

11 minutes. Luca Martinelli sent a dipping cross towards William Barbosa who headed the ball into the top corner of the net.

Tarxien struck again on the half hour mark when Rabat goalkeeper Andrew Zammit made a hash of his attempt to block Martinelli’s cross with the ball falling kindly to Karl Pulo who blasted the ball into the net.

The Blues grabbed their third goal eight minutes from the break when Carlos Hevia pulled the ball back towards Jorge Santos Silva who hit a low drive that rolled into the net.

Rabat could have pulled a goal back on 57 minutes when Manuel Caruana was judged to have fouled Malcolm Licari inside the area and the referee Fyodor Zammit pointed to the spot.

But Daniel Pelaez saw his low drive blocked in style by goalkeeper Nicky Vella.

Rabat reduced the gap on 61 minutes when Diego Carrillo Pendas picked Malcolm Licari inside the area and the Rabat striker headed past Vella.

Tarxien restored their three-goal lead on 71 minutes when Marko Potezica, who had just replaced Ronaille, burst clear on the left before pulling the ball back towards Santos Silva who buried the ball past Zammit.

Rabat refused to throw in the towel and a minute later Ryan Micallef showed great skill when despite being in a close angle he let fly a powerful volley that flew into the top corner of the net.

However, Rabat’s defensive frailties came back to haunt them on 77 minutes when Martinelli picked the unmarked Pulo inside the area who saw his first shot blocked by Zammit but from the rebound the Tarxien forward bundled the ball into the net.

Pulo completed his hat-trick on 82 minutes when he seized possession in midfield before embarking on a surging run that took him past David Azzopardi and Dylan Falzon before planting the ball past Zammit.

Tarxien striker Jorge Santos Silva was voted as the BOV Player of the match.