Hibernians eased past Zurrieq and made it to the next round of the Izibet FA Trophy in a match in which they dominated the proceedings.

Zurrieq tried their best but they opted to play on the counter and for long stretches of the match they had to deal with the pressure which came from all angles of the pitch.

The first action came from Hibernains when Degabriele surged forward but his cross shot was just missed by Mensah who was a bit late in connecting with the ball.

Nearing the half hour the Paolites broke the deadlock. Degabriele supplied the pass towards Gabriel Mensah who placed the ball into the net after a positive rebound.

A few minutes later Mensah was once again in the thick of action only for his shot to find an alert Zarb who saved.

Five minutes from the break and Hibernians doubled their lead. It was off a Jurgen Degabriele corner with Llerena dropping the ball towards Bjorn Kristensen who had the easiest of tasks tapping the ball into an empty net.

Zurrieq came into the picture in the 43rd minute when they reduced the deficit. An Igor Misan shot was partially saved by Haber and in came Joao Vitor who stretched and slotted the ball home.

Hibernians dominated the second half but they failed to convert their dominance into goals. But they found time to increase their lead in the 55th minute when Degabriele crossed towards Yunusa Muritala who headed past Zarb.

Till the end it was all Hibernians who cruised into the last sixteen phase of the competition eliminating Challenge League outfit Zurrieq.

Photo: Domenic Aquilina