Floriana 0
Hibernians 4
Obiefule 20, 22; Edison 71, 79;

Hibernians’ desire to put behind them their negative patch of late, a streak that saw them losing precious points at the top positions of the standings besides a shock elimination from the FA Trophy, was abundantly evident yesterday.

The growing list of injuries, including midfielder Andrew Cohen and forward Jean Paul Farrugia, and the suspensions to Bjorn Kristensen and Clayton Failla led coach Branko Nisevic to pin his hopes on a clutch of home-grown talent as he indulged in some positional tinkering.

Goalkeeper Daniel Balzan re-tained the no.1 shirt as Mario Muscat was not in the squad.

Timothy Tabone Desira took up the right-back role, Scott Chircop coming in at left-back while Brandon Muscat was deployed on the right side of midfield.

Obinna Obiefule was granted licence to roam and interchange with Luis Edison in a fluid 4-4-2 formation.

This new-look Paola team did give a good account of themselves yesterday but they required two late goals, scored by Edison, to seal the points.

Indeed, the presumed willingness of new players to leave a good impression failed to lift the game above the mediocre for much of the opening hour.

Ian Dawes, the Floriana coach put his faith in Steve Pisani to spearhead his team’s attack with Igor Coronado, Diogo and newcomer Dylan Kokavesiss.

Andrè Scicluna, back after serving suspension, alleviated Dawes’s defensive problems as he partnered Ibok Edet in heart of Floriana’s rearguard.

Coming from a depressing run of three consecutive defeats, Hibs knew that they had to raise their game by several notches if they were to stand a chance of reversing this negative trend, yesterday facing another faltering side in the Premier League.

Hibs monopolised possession but rarely stretched the Floriana rearguard beyond routine work in those early stages.

Yet, as the game moved past the 20th minute, Hibs reaped dividends also thanks to their op-ponents’ defensive uncertainty.

Obiefule volleyed in from 10 metres out after being picked by Edison as the Brazilian capitalised on an error by goalkeeper Daniel Hanford who found himself stranded after coming out of his line to reach the ball.

And things got even better two minutes later. This time Nigerian striker Obiefule showed great skills to turn past Edet and slip a shot through Hanford’s legs.

Buoyed by that two-goal cushion, the Paolites looked well in control but they were quickly handed a wake-up call.

On 41 minutes, Coronado had to exercise his neck muscles to reach Steve Pisani’s cross and try to head over Balzan. However, the goal-keeper effected a fine reflex save to deny the Brazilian striker.

After the break, Hibernians imposed their superior technical skills on Floriana, knocking the ball around wiith accuracy but they seldom threatened to add to the double lead given them by Obiefule.

That changed 19 minutes from time though when Edison rose expertly above his marker to head home from a Jackson Lima free-kick.

After that, the Paolites switched to cruise control and eight minutes later, Obiefule’s ball from the right landed invitingly at the feet of Edison who tapped it behind Hanford.

Floriana
D. Hanford-5, A Scicluna-5, I. Edet-4.5, S. Pisani-6, I. Coronado-6, Diogo-5, D. Baldacchino-5, C. Borg-5, B. Farrugia-5.5 (78 I. Galea), G. Muir-5.5, D. Kokavesiss- 5 (52 L. Casha-4).

Hibernians
D. Balzan-6, T. Desira Tabone-6, R. Camilleri-6, J. Pearson-6, J. Lima-6, S. Chircop-6, B. Muscat-6, Z. Levnaic-6, M. Bartolo-5.5 (76 J. Degabriele), L. Edison-7 (87 Z. Scerri), O. Obiefule-7.5.

Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.

Yellow cards: Chircop, Pearson, Degabriele.

BOV Player of the match: Obinna Obiefule (Hibernians).

Standings

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Birkirkara	19	16	2	1	43	15	50
Valletta	20	15	2	3	49	13	47
Hibernians	20	13	2	5	49	24	41
Sliema W.	20	10	7	3	37	22	37
Mosta	20	10	2	8	39	35	32
Naxxar Lions	19	8	3	8	27	31	27
Balzan	19	6	4	9	20	28	22
Floriana (-6)	20	8	3	9	27	30	21
Tarxien R.	19	4	4	11	24	39	16
Qormi	20	4	3	13	23	38	15
Vittoriosa S.	20	4	3	13	22	43	15
Rabat Ajax	20	1	3	16	16	58	6