Sliema W.-Hibernians 1-2

Hibernians turned defeat into a victory yesterday to earn their berth in next Friday’s final against Birkirkara, who beat Valletta on a penalty shoot-out on Monday.

The Paolites obtained their victory after coming from behind in a second half revival. In fact, it was a complete reversal of form in this match which had Sliema playing better in the first half and the Paolites coming back strongly in the second.

Both sides had some regular players missing from their starting line-ups. Sliema had Murphy Akanji, Noel Turner, Joe Brincat, Orosco Anonam and Daniel Bogdanovic starting on the bench, while Hibs had Peter Pullicino, Roderick Baldacchino, Haruna Doda and Clayton Failla missing.

In the first half, Sliema deserved their lead. They simply were a better outfit and although the goal was a sort of gift from goalie Muscat, they should have scored on other occasions.

Giglio, Mattocks and Farrugia were in command in midfield as the young Ben Camilleri and Jonathan Pearson, together with the experienced Essiem Mbong, struggled to get to grips with the situation.

In the process, Terence Scerri and Andrew Cohen were starved of some good balls as they were well held by Debono, Said and DiLello.

In the second half, after Sliema threatened to increase their lead, Hibs finally woke up to their responsibilities and not only managed to equalise, but also took the game in hand and went on to score the winner.

However, near the end, Sliema pressed hard to save the match and force a shoot-out, but the Paolites defended grimly and managed to keep the Blues at bay.

Hibs threatened first on four minutes when a good exchange of passes between Scerri and Cohen ended with the former’s shot being saved by Camilleri.

But it was Sliema who opened the scoring on 14 minutes. They were awarded a freekick and J. Farrugia deceived Muscat who allowed the ball to squirm out of his grasp and into the net.

Sliema almost doubled on 21 minutes. Doncic set Woods on the left. The latter advanced only to see his final effort missing the target by the proverbial hair’s breadth.

Hibernians’ first real reaction arrived on 32 minutes, a header from Terence Scerri being easily saved by Camilleri.

At the start of the second half, Sliema were again close to scoring. From a Farrugia freekick, Stefan Giglio had a fine header going just wide with Muscat beaten.

On the seventh minute, from another Farrugia freekick, a Doncic header was turned to corner in style by Muscat.

Soon after, another cross from Farrugia was just missed by Doncic in front of goal.

Hibs replied on the 57th minute. It was Matthew Camilleri who denied Terence Scerri twice in a few seconds. Five minutes later, Essiem had a shot blocked to a corner from which Hibernians equalised. From Cohen’s cross, a Pulis header caused havoc in the Sliema defence and Jeffrey Chetcuti, standing on the goal-line, hit the underpart of the crossbar in an effort to clear with the ball crossing the line.

The match now became more interesting. On 65 minutes, Woods had a good effort going wide. At the other end, Camilleri saved a Scerri effort with his extended foot.

Hibernians took the lead on 76 minutes. Scerri took advantage of some hesitation from Debono and Said, passed to Cohen who beat Camilleri all ends up.

Till the end, Sliema went all out in search of an equaliser, but Hibs held on for their victory. The Paolites now meet Birkirkara in the final on Friday.

Sliema W.: M. Camilleri, M. DiLello, D. Debono, B. Said, A. Muscat, S. Giglio, C. Mattocks, J. Farrugia, D. Doncic (D. Bogdanovic), J. Chetcuti, I. Woods.

Hibernians: M. Muscat, K. Spiteri (E. Agius), A. Pulis, A. Xuereb, E. Mbong, T. Scerri, A. Cohen, J. Vella (C. Failla), J. Pearson (R. Baldacchino), B. Camilleri, D. Camilleri.

Referee: A. Casha; Asst refs: I. Spiteri, C. Micallef 4th official: M. Borg

Scorers: J. Farrugia, J. Chetcuti (og), A. Cohen

Yellow cards: M. Muscat, S. Giglio.