El Hasni missed the fifth and final penalty yesterday at the Gozo Stadium, and this proved to be fatal for the Greens as Hibs goalkeeper Kone converted the fifth and final penalty for the champi‐ ons to hand the Super Cup to the Paolites, their fourth triumph in this competition.

It was a rather harsh destiny as Floriana surely deserved something better for their performance throghout the 120 minutes.

It was a balanced and keenly contested final on the sister island, as the two sides will meet again on Monday at Ta’ Qali in the Pre‐ mier League.

Jan Busuttil one of the best on the field of play, created havoc after two minutes but his cross was missed by his team mates.

On the other end Jake Grech’s shot went wide. On 15 minutes Floriana were very close to take the lead but Hibs custodian Kone made two brilliant saves off Veselji and Arias from the re‐ bound.

Eight minutes later Busuttil did a very good move but blasted over the bar when well placed. Just before the break Kitanov de‐ nied Diakite with a fine save.

In the second half Floriana surely were a span above their opponents and Jan Busuttil was denied by another fine save from Kone.

On 78 minutes Kone again came to the rescue, this time denying Veselji.

In extra time Kemar Reid had a golden opportunity after a Hibs defensive mishap, but again Kone showed all his worth and with an‐ other great save kept the champi‐ ons in the reckoning.

Hibs’ best opportunity came on 96 minutes when from a De‐ gabriele freekick, Shaw headed wide from an ideal position.

With both sides tiring out the match dragged on till the 120 minute with both goalkeepers still unbeaten, and the the Super Cup had to be decided on penal‐ ties.

Therer were no mistakes in the first four rounds of penalties, with Jan Busuttil, Andrei Ciolacu, Kemar Reid and Christian Rutjens scoring for Floriana, and with Kurt Shaw, Owalabi Muritala, Jake Grech and Jurgen Degabriele scoring for Hibernians.

Oualid El Hasni took the fifth penalty for the Greens, but his rather week and central effort was blocked by Kone.

The Hibernians custodian crowned his five star perform‐ ance when he took the decisive penalty for Hibernians, beating Ki‐ tanov with a low drive to hand Hibernians the Super Cup.

Photo: Domenic Aquilina