Balzan climbed back to fourth spot when in a direct clash against Hibernians they won by two second half goals.

The first half was rather controlled by Hibernians thought they never set any bushes on fire. But on the change of ends Balzan were a different preposition and in the end they grabbed the points that mattered.

For Hibernians this was their third consecutive defeat whereas Balzan returned to winning ways after losing their last match against Floriana.

Four minutes had elapsed when the Paolites threatened when Alex Bruno found Luis Henrique Guedes but his shot sailed over the bar.

On 20 minutes Golovic had to be on his alert to save a Giannis Bastianos free kick. Five minutes later Hibernians ventured forward once again and Antwi’s low drive was saved by Golovic. 

On the restart Balzan counter attacked through Aleksa Andrejic his shot on the turn just missing the target.

Hibernians responded on 56 minutes when a Jurgen Degabriele shot was saved by Golovic and this was followed by a Bastianos shot which was also blocked by the Paolites rearguard.

And Balzan took the lead against the run of play. Ex Hibernians midfielder Jake Grech sent a low cross which found Ryohei Michibuchi and the latter had the easiest of chances in slotting the ball home.

Hibernians reaction was an immediate one but they found once more goalkeeper Golovic in top form this time saving a Kurt Shaw header. In fact he was rightly chosen as the BOV Player of the Match.

And two minutes from the end of the match Balzan sealed the issue. With Hibernians throwing everything on the attack trying to save the game, Balzan countered and Dimeji Awosanya mada a good run and after rounding the opposing goalkeeper buried the ball in the net.

Photo: Domenic Aquilina