Hibernians hit five in mauling of Senglea
Haruna Garba breaks Spartans’ hearts
Ex-Hamrun striker Haruna Garba scored his first goal for the Maroons to give his side victory over the Spartans and make it a double after the first round 40 drubbing.
It must be said that Hamrun did not deserve to leave the field empty handed as they dominated completely the first half with Gzira nowhere to be seen. However on the resumption Gzira were the better team and and went for the win, their confidence seemingly lifted by the fact that they had won three and drew one of the previous six matches.
Favaretto’s team had midfielder Matias Garcia suspended, but Ivan Paz was back in the side. They looked comfortable, especially in midfield, with Virano and Paz stroking the ball about.
Although they began tidily enough, and went in front through Caseres, by the second half they were offering scant resistance.
Yesterday Rudy Briffa was on goalkeeping duty for Hibernians, who had Bjorn Kristensen suspended and both Rodolfo Soares and Jackson Lima used as substitutes.
Senglea got off to a great start, cleverly exploiting the pace of their two front runners Caseres and Braga against a slow Hibernians backline.
They made the breakthrough after only eight minutes when Augusto Caseres outpaced Gomez, advanced inside the Hibernians area and slotted the ball low past the onrushing keeper from a tight angle.
Two minutes later, as Hibernains were making a hash of cleaning things up at the back, Braga persisted against three opponents and created space for himself only to shoot wide.
To their credit, Hibernians responded well and before the quarter hour they were awarded a penalty after Azzopardi handled Moreira’s cross inside the area. Clayton Failla stepped up and tucked it confidently to restore parity.
Eventually, with halftime looming, Hibernians woke up to the fact that they were being upstaged and unleashed kept believing in the final success even when going behind to Micallef’s good goal.
The game took quite some time to ignite with Hamrun creating their first chance on 22 minutes when De Castro exchanged the ball with Lydon Micallef and his bombshell rocked the crossbar. Two minutes later Faria Machado was shown a yellow card for simulation and on 25 minutes Marco Criaco’s effort a matching riposte, although it was from a set piece that they took the lead four minutes before halftime. Failla’s corner from the right was flicked in by Joao Moreira for his second league goal since joining the Paolites in January.
Shortly after the restart, Hibernians had claims for another penalty turned down by the referee, after Degabriele fell inside the area as keeper Farrugia rushed out to block at his feet.
But Senglea weren’t bothered about that and immediately went up the other end to do battle. Paz ran down the left and delivered an inviting ball that rolled across the face of the Hibernians goal but nobody made contact.
The contest flowed, with Hibernians looking more confident. Jackson Lima, who had just gone in as a substitute, just missed the target.
On 33 minutes Curmi made a great save off a Criaco shot on the turn from the edge of the area. Hamrun continued to attack as the Maroons were completely blotted out of the game. On 38 minutes Thackray almost put at the back of his own net in an attempt to clear and minutes later Thiago headed wide when well placed.
Gzira’s only chance came just before the break when Amadou Samb put an inviting ball in front of goal, but there was no one who could connect.
Gzira looked a different proposition in the second half testing the Hamrun goalkeeper with shots from Andrew Cohen and an Okoye freekick. On 56 minutes it was Thackray’s turn to test Galea from another freekick.
On 57 minutes Hamrun broke the deadlock when Lydon Micallef scored a very good goal with a shot from the edge of the area.
Gzira almost equalised two minutes later from a corner action, with Cohen missing the target from close range.
On 63 minutes Okoye missed a sitter with only Grech to beat and on the other end Criaco’s low drive was blocked by Curmi.
On 68 minutes Okoye was apparently tripped by Zerafa with the referee opting for the penalty, which Amadou Samb tested keeper Farrugia with a fierce drive, turned into a corner, past the hour.
And on 66 minutes, with Senglea still to conjure a proper chance in the second half, the champions put the match beyond them with a third goal. This time Jurgen Degabriele applied the finish, after picking up Bezzina’s through pass.
In the dying minutes, Dunstan Vella missed a sitter, standing alone in front of the Senglea goal, on an Mbong cross.
But there was still time for Hibernians to score more goals. With two minutes remaining, Vella atoned by scoring his side’s fourth goal with a powerful strike as he ran through the middle. And on the stroke of time, substitute Arlindo Neto added gloss to Hibernians’ victory, scoring the fifth goal. Hamrun S: J. Galea, M. Criaco, D. Zerafa, C. Zaccardo (L. Sciberras 55 min), G. De Castro, K. Micallef (B. Schembri 89 min), A. Faria Machado, T. Caruana, T. Souza Da Silveira, L. Micallef, D. Camilleri. Gzira U: A. Curmi, R. Briffa (J. Corbolan 78 min), C. Gatt Baldacchino, D. Mambouana, K. Thackray, M. Avila Perez, E. Zarate Bilboa (H. Garba 72 min), A. Cohen (N. Muscat 72 min), Z. Scerri, A. Samb, N. Okoye Referee: Fyodor Zammit Ass. Referees: Jurgen Spiteri and Sammy Attard Fourth official: Matthew Degabriele Scorers: L. Micallef 57 min, A. Samb 69 min pen, H. Garba 80 min. Yellow cards: A. Faria Machado, D. Mambouana, D. Zerafa, R. Briffa, L. Sciberras, T. Caruana, T. Souza Da Silveira, J. Corbolan Player of the match: Marco Criaco (Hamrun S) TMI Top Three: 1. M. Criaco, 2. M. Avila Perez, 3. L. Micallef Attendance: 366 converted in style.
Gzira were now in search of victory but Hamrun went close 12 minutes from time with Micallef’s close range shot brilliantly blocked by Curmi.
On 80 minutes Gzira took the lead when from a corner action ex-Hamrun striker Haruna Garba’s back header found the back of the net. It proved to be