Mbong goal sinks spirited Saints

St Patrick 0
Hibernians 1

Hibernians had to dig deep into their resources yesterday before claiming a hard-earned 1-0 win over a spirited St Patrick side at the National Stadium.

Nigerian Essien Mbong scored the all-important goal in the 77th minute but Hibernians probably owe the three points to the tactical shrewdness of their coach Robert Gatt.

For most of the first 45 minutes, they were struggling to contain the attacking threat posed by pacey forwards Chima Dozie and Peter Anizoba.

Gatt changed tactics before the interval by roping in Andre Schembri and Kenneth Spiteri in lieu of Edward Azzopardi and Kurt Formosa. The move reaped its desired dividends as slowly the Paolites started to dominate proceedings before Mbong finally struck the 'killer' goal.

St Patrick will feel somewhat unlucky to finish the match empty-handed after a bright performance especially in the opening half. In Anizoba and Dozie, they can boast a dangerous partnership and with more composure at the back they can aspire to challenge seriously to preserve their Premier League status.

Gatt had to make do without Ndubisi Chukunyere. The Nigerian forward failed to recover from a knee injury while defender Adrian Pulis was sidelined with nagging ankle problems.

St Patrick, in their first appearance in the top flight after five years, fielded all their new signings with Maurizio Valastro replacing Alex Camilleri in goal, Brazilian Sandro Costa Brasilino played in midfield and Dozie partnered Anizoba up front. Defender Arnold Buttigieg was sidelined with a leg injury.

Despite facing one of the top teams in the Premier League St Patrick refused to sit back but, on the contrary, pushed forward in search of an opening goal.

They almost reached their objective in their first real attempt when Thomas Caruana picked the unmarked Mark Tanti in the Hibs area but the latter miscued his shot and the chance went begging.

Hibs' reply arrived three minutes later from an Andrew Cohen free-kick but the nippy forward's shot was fisted away by Valastro.

St Patrick were unlucky not to take the lead on 13 minutes when Anizoba struck a fierce shot from an angle which beat Muscat but hit the upright.

The Saints' Nigerian tandem in attack was creating a lot of apprehension in front of Muscat. On 21 minutes Anizoba again outsmarted his direct marker but blasted wide.

Terence Scerri should have put the Paolites ahead nine minutes from the break when put through by Pullicino but he shot straight into the hands of the onrushing Valastro.

Sensing his team's uneasiness, Gatt brought on Schembri and Spiteri to tighten things up in midfield.

But Anizoba was still tormenting the Hibs defence with his darting runs and three minutes from the break he powered his way past Mbong before unleashing a powerful drive that was deflected to the side-netting.

On the stroke of half-time Valastro was forced to dive to his right to palm away Pullicino's shot to a corner. From the ensuing flag-kick Schembri saw his header going just wide as Hibs finished strongly. In time added on Scerri had a goal ruled out for a previous infringement.

At the change of ends, Hibs started to show glimpses of their true form and soon tested Valastro with efforts from the distance by Baldacchino and Cohen.

On 61 minutes, Cohen threatened again but his free-kick flashed wide. The Saints were struggling to maintain the rhythm they had reached in the first half. Anizoba was now tightly-marked by Baldacchino.

Hibs protested for a penalty on 73 minutes when Antoine Zahra was floored in the Saints box but the referee waved play on.

The Paolites were all over their opponents and on 76 minutes Schembri was put through by Scerri but Valastro rushed out to block.

Hibs were not to be denied though and from the ensuing corner the ball fell Mbong's way and he hit home past the Saints goalkeeper.

Bobby Giorev's team refused to throw in the towel. Dozie had a good chance to equalise but fired over from a good position.

In stoppage time Zahra almost hit a second for Hibs but his miss little mattered as Hibs held on for the three points.

St Patrick: M. Valastro-6, R. Cassar-5, S. Costa Brasilino-6, M. Zerafa-6 ('83 L. Bartolo), D. Gauci-5, M. Tanti-6 ('65 G. Failla-6), C. Failla-6, T. Caruana-6, P. Anizoba-7, S. Zerafa-6 ('58 A. Galea-6), C. Dozie-6.

Hibernians: M. Muscat-6, E. Azzopardi-5 ('38 A. Schembri-7), P. Pullicino-7, A. Xuereb-6, R. Mintoff-6, E. Mbong-7, T. Scerri-6, K. Formosa-5 ('38 K. Spiteri-6), A. Zahra-6, A. Cohen-7, R. Baldacchino-7.

Referee: Paul Caruana.

Scorer: Mbong 77.

Yellow Cards: C. Failla, Mbong, Xuereb, Cassar, Anizoba, Scerri.

Player of the Match: Andrew Cohen (Hibs).