Valletta failed to join Sliema Wanderers in second place as they were held to a two-all draw by resilient Hibernians. Valletta twice had to come from behind to take a hard-earned point, despite dominating for long stretches.

Without key players and reduced to ten men, after Pulis’ dismissal for almost the entire second half, Hibernians undoubtedly found more value in a point than their opponents.

Valletta should have won this, as they created several scoring chances, especially in the second half when Hibernians defended in numbers. They were twice denied by the woodwork and frustrated time and again by Mario Muscat’s superlative goalkeeping. They salvaged a draw in the dying minutes after Bartolo had put Hibernians in front ten minutes from the end.

Following their loss against Sliema, coach Paul Zammit tinkered with his line-up. Nisevic was unavailable through injury but Forace and Bondin were exiled to the bench as Grioli and Bezzina started in defence and Fenech in midfield.

Hibernians also made some changes in their starting line-up, although forced ones, rather than by choice for coach Gatt. Chukunyere was missing through suspension while Failla was injured. There were starts for Pulis and Agius.

Hibernians were off to a flying start, making the breakthrough after only three minutes play.

Doffo demanded a decent save from keeper Darmanin, turning his shot into a corner. Cohen took the kick from the right and Adrian Pulis scored with an unchallenged header at the far post.

Valletta tried to dust off the early setback. Siberie’s low drive was blocked by keeper Muscat.

Gradually Valletta began to increase the pace to put the rest of the Hibernians’ defence under pressure, with Zammit pouring the embarrassment from the right flank.

Midway through the half, Valletta restored equilibrium from a set piece after being awarded a free-kick, played wide by Grima to Gilbert Agius, who scored with a diagonal low drive, the ball possibly taking a slight deflection off some player.

Valletta continued to exert their dominance and five minutes before the break Zammit went past two opponents but keeper Muscat deflected his final shot into a corner.

Hibernians struggled to hold to the draw in the second half, especially after they were reduced to ten men five minutes after the restart. Their defender Pulis was sent off for a second bookable offence, with a crude tackle on Fenech.

By the hour, Valletta had twice threatened to forge ahead. Muscat pulled off a superb save, blocking Zammit’s close shot when put through by Siberie’s intelligent back-heeled pass and then an Agius cross shot from the left rebounded off the foot of the post.

But then the match degenerated into several niggling fouls as more players went into the referee’s notebook.

Hibernians were conceding too many free-kicks on the edge of their area but Valletta failed to capitalise although on one occasion, Grima thumped his kick against the post.

It is however common place in football for teams who do not exploit their chances to risk being caught by a counter punch. On 80 minutes Matthew Bartolo raced upfield unhindered in open space and lobbed the ball over the onrushing Darmanin to put Hibernians in front.

Valletta refused to go down without a fight though and pressed hard for an equaliser. They valiantly summoned enough effort to stride upfield and were rewarded three minutes from time when keeper Muscat, who had made a string of superb saves, was rendered helpless by David Camilleri’s defiant strike, despite trying to clear the ball from behind the goal line as Siberie shot it in to claim the goal.

In the final analysis, Valletta might have deserved better but Hibernians are never easy opponents for the Citizens.

* * *

Hibernians: M. Muscat, A. Pulis, A. Xuereb, J. Caruana, M. Bartolo (J. Pearson), E. Agius, J. Vella (R. Briffa), A. Cohen, P. Doffo, A. Da Silva, K. Cassar

Valletta: S. Darmanin, J. Grioli (R. Forace), M. Grima, S. Bezzina (D. Zarb), K. Fenech (J. Bondin), U. Edafe, D. Camilleri, D. Falzon, G. Agius, I. Zammit, R. Siberie

Referee: A. Azzopardi Asst.refs: I. Spiteri, J. Camilleri 4th official: K. Azzopardi

Scorers: A. Pulis, G. Agius, M. Bartolo, D. Camilleri

Yellow cards: A. Pulis, R. Siberie, A. Da Silva, J. Grioli, G. Agius, U. Edafe, A. Cohen, R. Forace

Red card: A. Pulis

Player of the match: Gilbert Agius (Valletta)

TMI top three: 1. M. Muscat 2. I. Zammit 3. K. Fenech