Boavista next for Hibs as Chukunyere stuns Shels

Shelbourne 0
Hibernians 1
(Hibernians win 3-2 on agg.)

Boavista vs Hibernians. Incredible but true. A last-gasp Ndubisi Chukunyere goal earned the Maltese champions a berth in the second qualifying round of the Champions League as Hibernians had the better of Ireland's Shelbourne 1-0 at Tolka Park last night to go through 3-2 on aggregate.

Hibernians' chances of setting up a lucrative showdown with Portugal's Boavista looked very remote after Robert Gatt's troops were held to a 2-2 draw by Shelbourne in the first leg at Ta' Qali last week.

However, the Paolites yesterday showed great spirit and commitment, refusing to buckle in the face of unrelenting pressure before they silenced the home crowd with an injury-time winner, only a few seconds after the fourth official had signalled three minutes of added time.

The winner came in Hibs' only spell of sustained forcing late in the game as Shelbourne, needing no more than a goalless draw to progress to the next round, seemed to switch into defensive mode.

The move was initiated by Adrian Ciantar who set the enterprising Antoine Zahra, a second-half substitute for Peter Pullicino, on a run. The former Floriana player used his speed to great effect as he powered his way into the box before spotting the advancing Chukunyere. The ball was exquisitely squared to the Nigerian who fired in a low shot past goalkeeper Steve Williams.

The Shelbourne players held their heads in disbelief as the Hibs clan wheeled away in delight. Until that juncture, the Irish champions had dominated proceedings, piling the pressure on Hibs who had goalkeeper Mario Muscat to thank for keeping their heads above water.

Muscat's heroics were as much decisive to Hibs' success yesterday as Chukunyere's late strike. The 25-year-old Malta no.1, recently named the best 2001-2002 netminder in the Premier League, pulled off a string of fine saves to frustrate the Shelbourne players time and again.

Pat Fenlon, the Shels' player-manager, promised an attacking approach from his side and his charges started the game in adventurous fashion.

Richie Baker fired just wide of the far post early on and Muscat spared Branko Nisevic's blushes, charging out of goal to intercept Trevor Molloy after the Shelbourne striker had dispossessed the hesitant Yugoslav centre-half.

Aaron Xuereb, yesterday preferred to Kevin Cassar at right-back in a move aimed to cutting Shelbourne's supply from the left where Ollie Cahill was very menacing in the first leg, then made a sliding tackle to deflect the ball for a corner before Cahill could apply the finishing touch.

Hibs were non-existent as an attacking force in the first half as Shelbourne maintained their early momentum. On the half-hour mark, Muscat rescued Hibs again, saving a Barry Prender-ville header from a Cahill cross.

Three minutes later, Muscat effected another top-drawer save when smothering away a point-blank header by Molloy from a Cahill cross.

The Ukrainian referee's half-time whistle was met with relief by Hibernians who had struggled to make an impact on the game against their aggressive opponents.

The second half started in much the same vein as the first, Molloy being denied by Muscat's reflexes.

Four minutes into the restart, Hibs fashioned their first genuine attack when Chukunyere freed the industrious Pullicino. The Maltese-Australian midfielder outpaced an opponent but the Shels defence recovered to clear the danger.

That was the only time in 50 minutes that Hibs had a sniff of Shelbourne's goal as it was the Irish who continued to call the tune.

Between the 52nd and 60th minutes, Fenlon's men could have scored three times... first, Baker's drive was fisted away by Muscat and Molloy fluffed up the rebound. Then, a shot by Mark Roberts took a deflection but the Hibs goalkeeper dived to parry his effort and, minutes later, a teasing cross by Roberts looked to have been slightly deflected by Silvio Vella but luckily for the Maltese outfit, the ball whizzed just past the far post.

On 67 minutes, Shelbourne thought they had sealed their passage to the next round when Jim Gannon headed the ball home but his effort was disallowed for offside. Two minutes later, Gatt elected to introduce Zahra who soon began to cause trouble to the Shels' defence.

As the minutes ticked away, Hibs, facing the prospect of an early exit at the hands of an unfancied side, began to move forward with more vigour and purpose.

With their Irish opponents relinquishing their grip on the game, Hibs won the day with that incisive counter-thrust that was finished off in style by Chukunyere, triggering off wild celebrations among the Hibs players as the referee whistled the end of the match.

Shelbourne: S. Williams, O. Heary, D. Crawley (W. Houlihan), T. McCarthy, B. Prenderville, J. Gannon, O. Cahill, S. Byrne, T. Molloy, R. Baker, M. Roberts.

Hibernians: M. Muscat, B. Nisevic, S. Vella, A. Xuereb, A. Ciantar, E. Mbong, A. Mifsud, N. Chukunyere, P. Pullicino (A. Zahra), A. Pulis, R. Baldacchino.

Referee: V. Gudonian.

Scorer: Chukunyere 90th.

Yellow Cards: Xuereb, Pulis; Heary.