Marsaxlokk see off Hibs to stay on course for title

Hibernians 2
Marsaxlokk 3

Daniel Bogdanovic netted one of the fastest goals in this season's championship to lead his side to a nail-biting victory that edged his side closer to their first-ever Premier League title.

A comprehensive 4-1 defeat against nearest rivals Sliema Wanderers and elimination from the FA Trophy at the expense of Valletta led the critics to start wondering whether Marsaxlokk were about to crack in this final stage of the season.

But yesterday, the Premier League leaders silenced their critics with a convincing display which yielded a hard-fought success over southern rivals Hibernians who proved to be no push-overs despite languishing at the bottom place of the Championship Pool.

Brian Talbot, the Marsaxlokk coach, must have warned his players not to underestimate the unpredictable Paolites. Bogdanovic's first-minute strike must have given the impression that the southerners were in for a stroll, but in reality they had to fight hard before picking up three precious points that put them nine points clear, albeit having played a game more.

In fact, it was only a brilliant save by custodian Reuben Gauci deep into added time that preserved Marsa-xlokk's lead and landed them their nineteenth victory of the season.

Weakened by the absence of the suspended Carlo Mamo and Andre Schembri, Marsaxlokk could still afford to have Cleaven Frendo, Haruna Doda and Peter Pullicino on the substitutes' bench even though all three were introduced midway through the second half.

Marsaxlokk took the ground running and inside the first minute they were already a goal ahead.

Samir Garci, a surprise starter in Talbot's first XI, ably picked the advancing Bogdanovic who burst into the area before beating the advancing Mario Muscat and put his team ahead.

The goal hit hard the Paolites who were struggling to keep their own in these early stages. As the minutes ticked by they started to get themselves back into the match and even managed to draw level with their first attempt at goal on 22 minutes.

Andrew Cohen's teasing cross from a free-kick surprised the Marsaxlokk defence and defender Kenneth Spiteri nipped in to fire the ball past the helpless Gauci.

Marsaxlokk's response was immediate and took barely 12 minutes to regain their lead. Udo Nwoko commenced the move deep in midfield as he delivered a low cross towards Bogdanovic.

The striker diligently flicked the ball towards the surging Garci whose vicious shot from just inside the area sailed into the roof of the net.

Five minutes into the second half, Bogdanovic picked the ball from the edge of the area and unleashed a stinging shot that had Muscat diving to his right and palm the effort to a corner.

With the contest evenly balanced, Hibs introduced Ndubisi Chuku-nyere just before the hour and the move seemed to reap the desired dividends as on 57 minutes they nearly drew level.

Pablo Doffo ran down the full length of the pitch shrugging off two challenges before sliding the ball towards the unmarked Terrence Scerri whose curling shot sailed just over.

Marsaxlokk seemed to have put the result beyond Hibs' reach when they surged 3-1 up on 70 minutes. Frendo made a clean run in the box but was illegally upended by Spiteri and a penalty was awarded. Frendo took the kick himself and beat Muscat to give his side a crucial two-goal cushion.

However, Hibs were soon back in it as barely a minute later they reduced the gap. Cohen's effort was partially blocked by the Marsaxlokk defence, the loose ball fell into the path of Matthew Bartolo who fired the ball home to set up a tense finale.

Frendo was unlucky not to net a second goal on 79 minutes as his thundering drive ricocheted off the crossbar and seconds later, a flashing attempt by the hardworking Nwoko narrowly missed the target.

Inside the last ten minutes, the southerners increased their tempo and skipper Muscat had to be on maximum alert as he parried away a low shot by Licari as Pace latched on the rebound but lofted his effort over the crossbar.

Deep into added time, Hibs could have notched the equaliser as substitute Chukunyere towered brilliantly in the air and headed towards the far post only for Debono to pull off a breath-taking save to preserve his side's lead and leave them well on course for the league title with four matches left.

Hibs: M. Muscat-6.5, K. Spiteri-6.5, C. Failla-6 ('64 A. Pulis-6), A. Xuereb-6, J. Caruana-7, E. Agius-6 ('56 N. Chukunyere-6), J. Vella-6, P. Doffo-7, T. Scerri-6.5 ('84 T. Caruana), A. Cohen-6.5, M. Bartolo-6.5.

Marsaxlokk: R. Gauci-7, L. Dimech-7, C. Magro-6.5, M. Licari-6.5, K. Mamo-6.5, J. Pace-7, G. Sciberras-6.5, K. Sammut-7 ('64 C. Frendo-7), U. Nwoko-8 ('89 P. Pullicino), S. Garci-7.5 ('68 H. Doda-7), D. Bogdanovic-7.5.

Referee: Marco Borg.

Scorers: Bogdanovic 1; Spiteri 22; Garci 34; Frendo 70 pen; Bartolo 71.

Yellow cards: Pace, Doffo, Caruana, Dimech.

BoV Player of the match: Daniel Bogdanovic (Marsaxlokk)