BOV Premier League | Tarxien Rainbows 0 – Hibernians 4

This was a match between two teams with different ambitions. Tarxien Rainbows are still to register a win in the Premier League and find themselves bottom of the table. The future doesn’t look bright for the Rainbows since it is now evident that they will be relegated unless their form change drastically.

On the other hand, Hibernians improved a lot during recent weeks and find themselves challenging for honours. The Paolites started the match third, just four points behind leaders Floriana.

Hibernians won 4-1 during the first round.

Sanderra’s men made a great start to the match and took less than than two minutes in order to break the deadlock. Jake Grech served the unmarked Imanol Iriberri and the latter placed the ball past Rudy Briffa

Moments later, Jurgen Degabriele hit a low shot from the edge of the penalty area that was saved by Briffa in two attempts.

Hibernians created another chance on the 10th . Gabriel Ariles fired a shot from a free-kick that went slightly high.

Irriberi scored again for Hibernians on the 16th minute. Jurgen Degabriele passed the ball in the direction of the Argentinian striker who slotted the ball inside the net from close range.

Tarxien hit back on the 24th minute. Aleksa Andrejic won a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area. Daniel Zerafa tried his luck, but his effort sailed off target.

Briffa denied Hibernians from scoring again on the 27th minute. Artiles delivered a cross in the direction of Dunstan Vella whose shot forced a good save from the opposing goalkeeper.

On the other end, Jovicic had to be on the alert in order to tip behind Thomas Veronese’s effort from a free-kick.

Tarxien’s coach made an early substitution in his attempts to change the course of the game as he substituted Andres Tenorio with Miguel Ciantar on the 31st minute.

Seven minutes later, Tarxien were forced to make another early substitution since Steve Shaba suffered an injury to his head when Ferdinando Apap landed on his ear following a challenge for the ball. Tarxien’s player had to be taken out of the pitch on a stretcher and went straight into the ambulance as his injury looked quite serious.

Things went from bad to worse for Tarxien as they gifted Hibernians their third goal three minutes from half-time. Destin Mambouana slipped and lost possession to Jake Grech. The Maltese midfielder went through on goal and placed the ball inside the net without much difficulty.

Hibernians started the second half where they left off the first and went  close to score again on the 53rd minute. Iriberri received the ball inside the  penalty area and fired a shot that sailed over.

Hibs nearly added another goal on the 66th minute. Jake Grech crossed the ball in the direction of Ferdinando Apap who headed it towards Iriberri. The forward fired a first timer that went centimetres off target.

Iriberri missed another chance to score four minutes later. Timothy Tabone Desira delivered a cross that was met by the thirty-two year old who failed to miss the target from close range.

The score became 4-0 on the 76th minute. Myles Beerman went easily inside the penalty area past his marker before passing the ball towards Jurgen Debariele whose shot went past the goal line despite Mambouana’s efforts to clear his marks.

Following this goal, there wasn’t anything else to play for. Hibernians were happy to dominate possession. On the other hand, Tarxien just waited for the final whistle as they couldn’t keep up with the Paolites.

Tarxien Rainbows starting line-up: Rudy Briffa, Thomas Veronese, Destin Mambouana, Brandon Muscat, Gary Camilleri (Keith Attard-78), Aleksa Andrejic, Steve Shaba (Nevin Portelli-38), Matthew Tabone, Petar Kanzurov, Andres Tenorio (Miguel Ciantar-31), Daniel Zerafa

Hibernians starting line-up: Marko Jovicic, Ferdinando Apap, Jens Wemmer, Joseph Mbong (Timothy abone Desira-67), Jake Grech, Jurgen Degabriele, Bjorn Kristensen, Duntsan Vella (Ayrton Attard-78), Gabriel Artiles (Myles Beerman-52), Andrei Agius, Imanol Iriberri

Referee: Ishmael Barbara

Assistant Referees: Edward Spiteri, James Muscat

Fourth Official: Alan Mario Sant

BOV Player of the Match: Imanol Iriberri (Hibernians)