Hibernians    101    Starlites GIG    76

(25-9, 26-15, 25-25, 25-27)

Hibs had lost their initial league match but then recovered sufficiently to post three victories in a row. Their latest one was a feat, as they could only muster as a five-man team, which was enough to get the better of a youthful Starlites side, who play for the love of the game. Hibs also managed to go past the century mark, late in the match, even if they were without the presence of their upper-division players, who are eligible to play in this category. Hibs made sure of the result till the interval, with the match, then becoming more balanced after the break, as the game developed into a high scoring one.

The Paolites started in a determined manner, with a three-pronged attack, as Kurt Sultana, Kieron Caruana, and Matthew Attard played havoc with the Starlites defence. The latter also put in his triple, and so did Starlites' Miguel Falzon, as his side struggled to obtain points. In the second period, Starlites improved, but the Paolites went on relentlessly, with their point grabbing. This time it was Isaac Bonett, who joined Caruana and Attard, with the latter two making more treys, and Caruana sinking a brace. Starlites had Miguel Fabri coming to the fore, as he nailed a couple of treys, with Quentin Bugeja helping out, with his two buckets. At the interval, Hibs had pushed on to a winning 51-24 advantage.

After the break Starlites began to match their opponents in points, it was Miguel falzon leading the charge, also making a triple. He was aided by Alex Xuereb, but Hibs still kept their heavy lead, as they shared the points in this session. Attard kept on with his work, as he sank in two more triples, with Bonett netting a trio of hoops, and Caruana also netting a trey. The score went up to 76-49, with Hibs on a constant level of play. This also followed on in the last period, with the Paolites steadily going on to their century, as Sultana started off early, and Caruana continued with two more triples. It was Attard, with his only hoop of this session, who arrived to the century. Starlites managed to hike up their score also, especially in the latter stages of the match, with Bugeja throwing a late trey, for the final score.

Hibs: I. Bonett 18, K. Caruana 27, P. Attard 6, M. Attard 31, K. Sultana 19

Starlites: M. Barbara, M. Azzopardi 10, M. Fabri 21, N. Sultana, M. Falzon 20, A. Vella , Q. Bugeja 11, A. Xuereb 14, B. Stankovic

Referees: Z. Dobrosavljevic, K. Dworniczak