Rampant champions concede first goal after 319 minutes

Hibernians maintained their 100 per cent record in the women's league last weekend after a 4-1 win over Raiders while Melita handed Sta Venera their third straight defeat. Championship newcomers Sta Venera, however, continued to show more signs of improvement in their game.

Champions Hibernians had another good day on Sunday even though in the end their goalkeeper suffered the first goal after 319 minutes of play.

League top scorer Kathleen Saliba put Hibernians in front after 21 minutes. They were the better team but were finding it harder than they had expected to break down a resilient Raiders' rearguard with goalkeeper Sonia Farrugia in fine form.

In the 34th minute Joanne Vella and Dorianne Theuma combined well together with the latter hitting low past Farrugia to make it 2-0.

Patricia Borg added another goal for Hibs soon after the restart but Raiders deservedly pulled one back minutes later when Claudia Borg beat Rita Tagliaferro from an Amanda Atkins free-kick.

Hibs were jaded and lost some of their composure after Borg's goal but Lyndsay Shead eased their worries after dribbling past her marker to place the ball home for a 4-1 scoreline.

Sta Venera had conceded 26 goals in two matches before Sunday. Their defence looked tighter against Melita as the latter pounded their opponents in search of early goals. Until half-time they were only leading 2-0, thanks to a Maria Azzopardi brace.

Sta Venera tried hard to keep Melita away from their box after the break as Melita's Alyssa Rivero, Roberta Girard and Mirella Caruana blasted wide from good scoring positions.

Substitute Caruana then scored her team's third goal and Girard, another substitute, rounded up the score to 4-0 in the 75th minute.

Line-ups

Hibs: R. Tagliaferro, M. Debono (C. Grech), L.A. Galea, L. Shead, D. Tonna, D. Theuma (O. Borg), J. Vella (C. Sciberras), P. Borg, S. Caruana (T. Agius), Y. Carabott, K. Saliba.

Raiders: S. Farrugia, K. Mangion, N. Agius, C. Borg, G. Vella (C. Busuttil), R. Xerri, A. Atkins, D. Midolo, K. Zammit, B. Axisa, A. Mifsud.

Referee: A. Sciriha.

Sta Venera: E. Brincat, D. Gatt, N. Grima, R. Gatt, F. Mangion, J. Grech, G. Fenech (M. Micallef), O. Cassar (M. Carabott), M. Carabott (R. Calleja Vella), P. Cassar (C. Montfort), K. Tabone Desira.

Melita: S. Zammit, D. Allingham, J. Ellul Soler (L. Damato), N. Gauci (D. Micallef), N. Pace, M. Azzopardi, L. Tabone (M. Zammit), O. Bedingfield, J. Abdilla (R. Girard), L. Mizzi (M. Caruana), A. Rivero.

Referee: M. Scerri.

Top scorers: K. Saliba (Hibs) - 7 goals; S. Caruana (Hibs) - 5 goals; E. Agliano (Birkirkara) - 4 goals; R. D'Agostino (Birkirkara) - 4 goals; D. Theuma (Hibernians) - 4 goals.

Next matches (Sunday) - 9 a.m. Rabat vs Birkirkara; 11 a.m. Mosta vs Sta Venera.