Tenacious Stripes march on as Hibs falter

Birkirkara 2
Comvalius 18; Galea 83
Hibernians 1
Caruana 86

Birkirkara's pursuit of Michael Mifsud may have ended in disappointment but if their rivals hoped that this would jolt their confidence, they were proved wrong yesterday.

Pitched in a confrontation with champions Hibs, Birkirkara relied on teamwork and resilience to extend their winning streak and ensure another week at the summit, in the process turning up the heat on Valletta before the latter's game against Sliema Wanderers.

The high-flying Stripes dominated for long spells as Hibs, who needed a victory to resurrect their fading title defence hopes, struggled to cope without their suspended trio of Andrew Cohen, Adrian Pulis and Miguel Lopes de Pina.

The faltering Paolites were second best for most of the match but it took the Stripes until the 83rd minute to wrap up the points with a second goal. Jonathan Caruana pulled one back for Hibs but it was a case of too little, too late.

Joseph Zerafa, deployed at centre-half in the 2-0 victory over Qormi, deputised for the suspended Carlo Mamo at left-back. Birkirkara coach Paul Zammit restored Branko Nisevic, Paul Fenech and Nikola Vukanac to the starting formation.

Hibs coach Mark Miller awarded starting roles to midfielder Ndubisi Chukunyere, who rejoined the Paolites in January, Ryan Camilleri and Triston Caruana.

Birkirkara signalled their attacking intentions from the outset. The game was just over six minutes old when Trevor Cilia made headway on the right before picking out Michael Galea who was unmarked at the far post. The Birkirkara captain elected to hit the ball first time but skewed his volley high.

Five minutes later, Zerafa put his speed to good use as he made a scything run on the left before squaring to Galea whose grounder was blocked by Jonathan Pearson.

Hibs' toils to cope with the pace of Cilia were evident when the Birkirkara winger left Edward Herrera in his wake but his diagonal shot flew over. It looked a matter of when not if Birkirkara would open the scoring and the breakthrough duly came on 18 minutes.

Cilia was the provider with an excellent cross from the right and Comvalius finished with aplomb as his exquisite flick wrong-footed Muscat.

The Paolites squandered an inviting opportunity to level matters when Caruana's free-kick from the right flew across the face of goal and Elton Morelato just failed to make contact at the far post.

According to the teamsheet, Morelato was no.11 but the Brazilian donned the no.22 shirt.

The industry of Fenech and Rowen Muscat ensured that Birkirkara held the initiative for the best of the opening half but Hibs gradually began to move the ball better with Etienne Barbara often dropping back to try and initiate attacking moves for his team.

Jorge Mora, Birkirkara's goalkeeper, palmed away a dangerous Caruana cross in the early stages of the second half.

Birkirkara would have doubled their advantage on 64 minutes were it not for Aaron Xuereb's timely intervention on Galea. Standing in the six-yard box, the Birkirkara skipper was shaping up to meet Cilia's perfect assist but the lanky Hibs defender slid in to deflect the ball towards Muscat.

Zammit's men pressed forward as the second half gathered pace. Shaun Bajada freed Galea with a peach of pass but out came Muscat to intercept.

At the other end, a half-clearance was diverted into the path of Jonathan Caruana who unleashed an angled drive that crashed against the post.

Birkirkara made it 2-0 with seven minutes left. Alan Tabone, who had just replaced Bajada, pinpointed a cross from a corner and Galea rose to head past Muscat.

Substitute Jean Paul Farrugia fluffed an excellent chance to drag his team back in contention when he shot straight at Mora after getting on the end of a clearance but the Paolites did pull one back four minutes from time.

Latching on to a through-ball from Jean Paul Farrugia, Caruana nipped behind the Birkirkara defence and stroked the ball past Mora.

Birkirkara: J. Mora-5.5, P. Fenech-6, N. Vukanac-6, B. Nisevic-6, A. Buhagiar-6 ('75 K. Pulo), R. Muscat-6.5, J. Zerafa-6.5, S. Bajada-6 (82 A. Tabone), T. Cilia-7, M. Galea-7, S. Comvalius-7 ('90 G. Mallia).

Hibernians: M. Muscat-5, J. Caruana-6.5, E. Herrera-4, A. Xuereb-6.5, J. Pearson-6.5, R. Camilleri-4 ('30 M. Tabone-6.5), E. Morelato-4, T. Caruana-5 ('84 J.P. Farrugia), E. Barbara-7, B. Camilleri-6, N. Chukunyere-4 ('58 C. Camilleri-4).

Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.

Yellow cards: Comvalius; Xuereb; Muscat; Caruana; Farrugia.

BoV player of the match: Trevor Cilia (Birkirkara).