Hamrun Spartans looked cruising to a comfortable win. Leading by four goals at the start of the second half against Hibernians, down to ten men since the 36th minute, few could have imagined that the Paolites would make a late rally to score three goals in the last quarter hour and nearly snatch a late draw to leave all present at Ta’ Qali on tenterhooks.

Hamrun were by far the better team for a whole 70 minutes. Until then, Hibernians looked tetchy and nervy and unable to put up a fight.

Both sides needed a win. Hibernians had collected only two points from their previous two matches. Hamrun had none after two consecutive defeats.

Hamrun were depleted with injuries and suspensions. Defenders Hrubsa and Steve Bonnici were serving a one-match ban while striker Shields, who underwent cartilage surgery, will be unavailable for several weeks. The not fully-fit Rupert Mangion also sat on the bench. Their reshuffled defence had Mark Anthony Bonnici as right back and Massimo Grima in the centre alongside Roderick Fenech.

David Camilleri played in front of the defence, with Lee Agius starting in midfield. Latest signing Peter Chizoba Anizoba made his debut in the Spartans’ attack.

His pacey runs always looked to create trouble to the Paolites’ rearguard, which had Matthew Tabone starting for Ryan Camilleri and Aaron Xuereb making way for Jonathan Pearson as centre back.

Anizoba went on to score two goals for the Spartans who made the more assertive start. Anizoba ran down the right flank. His cross was cut by Pearson who nearly deflected into his own goal.

Past the quarter hour, a livelier Ryan Fenech fell inside the Hibernians area under the challenge of Pulis and Levnaic but the referee was not impressed.

Hamrun’s goal was in the air though. On 21 minutes, Bonnici sent a low cross from the right and the unmarked Marcelo Pereira flicked the ball in past keeper Muscat.

Grima’s rasping free kick whizzed past the Hibernians goal and on the half hour, the Paolites put in Jean Paul Farrugia for Tabone in a tactical change for the former to give McManus more support.

Past the half hour, Hamrun doubled their lead. Pulis was robbed of the ball in midfield by Spiteri who played it wide to Ryan Fenech to advance down the right flank and cross deep for Peter Anizoba to head in from near the byline on the left.

Shattered Hibernians were reduced to ten men on 36 minutes when Pulis was shown a straight red card for his crunching tackle from behind on Ryan Fenech.

Hamrun were soon to exploit their numerical superiority. Three minutes before halftime, Spiteri and Fenech combined again to telling effect with the latter providing the cross for Anizoba to hit past the helpless Muscat.

Hibernians’ woes grew deeper hardly two minutes after the restart. Keeper Muscat fumbled Gaetan Spiteri’s shot from a tight angle on the left and allowed the ball to cross the line for Hamrun’s fourth goal.

The game looked already over and the points virtually secured for the Spartans. Hibernians allowed their opponents too much space and liberty on the flanks and keeper Muscat was called to save on Anizoba and Pereira when clear in front of goal.

Hibernians scored two goals in quick succession with almost a quarter hour remaining. The first, on 72 minutes, came courtesy of a defensive blunder by Hamrun. Grima’s back header was short for his keeper and Paul McManus crept in to lob the ball over Casha, standing out of his line.

Three minutes later a Cohen free kick from the right was headed in by Jean Paul Farrugia to lift the Paolites’ spirits.

The dead men were resurrected three minutes from time with the referee awarding them a penalty for Roderick Fenech’s foul on Hart inside the area and Andrew Cohen made it 4-3. Hibernians were only one goal away from a remarkable comeback.

They pushed everything forward with tactics long forgotten. Keeper Casha blocked on McManus as the ball rolled freely in his path in four minutes of added time. But that was the closest Hibernians could go at the final whistle which brought great relief to the Hamrun fans.

This win now takes them in second place with Marsaxlokk.

Hibernians

M. Muscat, A. Pulis, M. Tabone (J.P. Farrugia), M. Clarke, Z. Levnaic, R. Hart, P. McManus, T. Caruana (M. Gauci), J. Pearson, E. Herrera, A. Cohen

Coach

M. Miller

Hamrun S

I. Casha, M.A. Bonnici, M. Grima, Roderick Fenech, J. Vukanic, D. Camilleri, L. Agius, M. Pereira, Ryan Fenech (R. Mangion), G. Spiteri, P. Chizoba Anizoba

Coach

S. D’Amato

Referee

M. Borg

Asst refs

E. Spiteri, P. Apap

4th official

C. Pisani

Scorers

M. Pereira 21, P. Anizoba 32, 41. G. Spiteri 47, P. McManus 72, J.P. Farrugia 75, A. Cohen 87 pen

Yellow cards

J. Pearson, M.A. Bonnici, A. Attard, Z. Levnaic, J. Vukanic, R. Hart, J.P. Farrugia

Red card

A. Pulis

Player of the match

Ryan Fenech (Hamrun S)

TMI top 3

1. Ryan Fenech 2. G. Spiteri 3. P. Anizoba

Attendance

1847