Hibernians, playing the entire second half with ten men, following Chukunyere’s dismissal, scored a late winner to dismantle the already doomed Pieta Hotspurs 2-1in the Relegation Pool.

The Hotspurs, as ordinary as their league position would suggest, were bereft of conviction, although quite understandable. They failed to exploit their numerical superiority, even if playing without any pressure, as Hibernians showed better quality.

This meaningless encounter, devoid of any excitement and played against a near-silent backdrop, gave the chance for both coaches to give starts to the not so regulars. Daniel Balzan, Jonathan Xerri, Jonathan Pearson and Triston Caruana started for Hibernians, as Cohen, Fish, Xuereb and Scerri sat on the bench.

Pieta’s squad also included some new young faces. One of them, Ismael Grech made it to the first eleven while Shawn Micallef, Benjamin Zammit and Kyle Darmanin went in as substituted.

Played at a walking pace, the game produced two goals within the first 25 minutes, courtesy of defensive blunders from both defences. On five minutes, the Pieta defence remained static when Chukunyere lobbed the ball towards Pablo Doffo, standing in a dubious offside position. But as the flag did not go up, the Argentinian midfielder coolly slotted the ball in to give Hibernians the lead.

That lasted 20 minutes. Cassar played a long ball forward and Francesco Sulas beat the erratic defender Mintoff, raced inside the area and easily beat keeper Balzan to restore equilibrium.

On the stroke of halftime, Chukunyere was sent off for passing some remarks to the referee as Hibernians played the second half with a man down.

Still they looked the better outfit, showing some more vigour, even because they introduced Aaron Xuereb in defence and Terence Scerri in attack. Past the hour, Jonathan Caruana was put through by Triston Caruana, but his low drive was deflected into a corner by the stretched Montfort.

Hibernians continued to dominate as Pieta looked poor in the second half. The woodwork twice came to Pieta’s rescue within ten minutes, first through Scerri’s shot rebounding off the foot of the post and then Failla’s cross shot hit the bar.

Terence Scerri twice spurned opportunities in the late stages. He chested Agius’ cross inside the area but shot wastefully wide and then saw Montfort produce a splendid safe to keep out another effort.

He finally scored his side’s winner deep into added time, knocking in the ball from close range on Failla’s pass.

It was more than Hibernians deserved at the end.

* * *

Hibernians: D. Balzan, J. Xerri, J. Caruana, R. Mintoff (T. Scerri), C. Failla, U. Edafe, J. Pearson (A. Xuereb), E. Agius, P. Doffo, T. Caruana (G. Inguanez), N. Chukunyere

Pieta H: M. Montfort, C. Cassar, S. Grech, M. Deanov, R. Grippa (S. Micallef), C. Sammut, S. Kondev, D. Mifsud (K. Darmanin), E. Herrera, F. Sulas (B. Zammit), I. Grech

Referee: A. Arciola asst.refs: A. Camilleri, G. Barbara 4th official: S. Tanti

Scorers: P. Doffo, F. Sulas, T. Scerri

Yellow cards: E. Herrera, S. Kondev

Red card: N. Chukunyere

Player of the match: Pablo Doffo (Hibernians)

TMI top three: 1. P. Doffo 2. C. Failla 3. M. Montfort