Hibernians had to sweat more than expected to secure their passage into the next round of the FA Trophy after Qala Saints from Gozo gave them a run for their money.

The Gozitan side, coached by former Malta international Shaun Bajada, put on a disciplined performance where at times they were also a threat from the counter-attacks.

Branko Nisevic’s Hibernians had to wait until the 56th minute to break the deadlock when Jurgen Degabriele converted from the penalty spot.

Hibs made sure of the qualification on the 77th minute when Giannis Bastianos beat goalkeeper Owen Attard with a delightful freekick.

For this match, Nisevic handed Malta U-21’s goalkeeper Hugo Sacco his first start for Hibernians while in the second half he put on forward Sime Zuzul for his club debut.

Sportsdesk – Gianluca Lia

Marsaxlokk and Hibernians cancelled each other out in Sunday’s opening game at the Tony Bezzina Stadium.

Winston Muscat’s Marsaxlokk side opened the score just before half-time through Yuri.

Hibernians, who were down to ten men on the 74th minute after Ferdinando Apap’s sending off, grabbed the equaliser through Rodney Antwi on the hour mark.

Branko Nisevic, Hibs’ coach, handed a debut to Mamadou Bagayako at the heart of the midfield after the Ivory Coast player joined the club in this winter transfer window.

Marsaxlokk are fourth on 20 points while Hibernians are sixth on 18.

Sportsdesk – Gianluca Lia

Hibernians and Mosta shared the spoils in a goalless stalemate which leaves the Paolites in fifth and the Blues in the relegation red zone.

Branko Nisevic’s Hibernians were at the back of a win over Valletta but failed to follow up with a win as they were record just their second draw of this campaign.

Mosta, on their part, join Valletta on 11 points following their fifth stalemate of the season.

Sportsdesk – Gianluca Lia

Hibernians scored a goal in each half through Ferdinando Apap and Alex Bruno to beat Valletta and return to winning ways.

The Paolites were at the back of a narrow defeat against Sliema Wanderers and have now moved to 16 points, in fifth position.

On the other hand, Valletta have now gone five matches without a victory as they remain on 10 points following their fourth defeat of the season.

Valletta’s coach Enzo Potenzia made two changes from last week’s defeat against rivals Floriana with Fernando Barrientos and Christian Gauci replacing Neil Micallef and Federico Vega.

Hibernians, on their part, also made two changes with coach Branko Nisevic welcoming back Eriks Santos and Luizinho Guedes in the starting line-up.

Valletta were looking to control the game through possession but it was Hibernians who threatened most with their fast positive transitions.

The Paolites had Alex Bruno and Jurgen Degabriele trying efforts from outside the penalty area but they could not beat Jake Galea.

Defender Ferdinando Apap came close to a wonder goal but his overhead kick went inches wide from Valletta’s goal.

Nonetheless, the Malta international was not to be denied moments later when he finished up a positive transition which he started after recovering the ball inside the defensive third.

Apap continued his run towards the box before being teed up by Robert Bairam and head home past Galea.

After the change of ends, Hibernians came out the strongest from the blocks with Degabriele having a shot sailing over the bar and Bastianos forcing Galea into action with a long-range save.

Nisevic’s side made their pressure count twenty minutes into second half when Alex Bruno hit a delightful curling finish to beat Galea.

Sportsdesk – Gianluca Lia

A second-half goal by Denis Koauo was enough to put daylight between Sliema Wanderers and Hibernians, handing the Blues their fifth win of the campaign.

Paul Zammit’s side rejoin Marsaxlokk on 16 points as they bounce back from last week’s Old Firm defeat at the hands of Floriana.

Kuoao scored the all important goal on the 67th minute to sink Hibernians to their fourth defeat of the season.

Branko Nisevic’s side remain sixth on 13 points as they see their run of positive results come to an end after picking up seven points in their last three outings.

Sports Desk – Gianluca Lia

Hibernians secured a vital victory over Sirens to keep track of the top three positions of the domestic championship.

The Paolites opened a two-goal lead in the first half through Giannis Bastianos and Claudio Bonanni.

Bastianos, who joined the club during the summer transfer window, struck a long-range effort that beat Ini Akpan for his fifth goal in eight Hibernians appearances.

Former Birkirkara midfielder, Bonanni, followed up with a second just before half-time – his first goal for the Paolites in the 2023/2024 campaign.

After the exchange of ends, Sirens did pull one back through Frank Boateng who found the net immediately after coming off the bench.

However, his goal was not enough to help Sirens salvage at least a point from this game.

Branko Nisevic’s Hibernians are now fifth on 13 points while Sirens remain anchored at the bottom with just a couple of points to show for their efforts.

Sportsdesk – Gianluca Lia

Fortune finally smiled on Hibernians again as they overcame Gudja United to put their nightmare spell behind them.

A second-half goal from Giannis Bastianos gave them their first win since September and eased the pressure after a poor run of form.

Hibernians had failed to find the target in the League since putting three past Santa Lucia on September 23. They have gone four Premier League games without a goal since then, picking up just one point from meetings with Floriana, Birkirkara, Balzan and Naxxar.

And there was very little to suggest in the opening period that their goal drought would end sooner rather than later.

Despite territorial dominance from the Paolites, earlier on, there was no hot action in front of Yaren Sozer, the Gudja goalkeeper.

Hibs tried to open up the visitors’ rearguard periodically but they were kept largely at bay by an organised defence well marshalled by Karl Micallef.

So when, in their first attack of the second half, Giannis Bastianos ended a collective drought that had lasted 6 hours and 32 minutes, no one blamed Branko Nisevic to roar out as a sigh of relief.

Armen Hovhannisyan measured his pass through to Bastianos who hit a diagonal shot behind Sozer.

It would be overstating the case to suggest that after the goal, Hibernians started to move the ball around with more conviction. Yet the breakthrough tricked Gudja out of their shell.

The Paolites were starting to clutch at straws when Kurt Shaw ran into the back of Abou Toure in the area as Gudja claimed a penalty.

Referee Ishmael Barbara waved the protests away.

As a consequence, Gudja captain Micallef was sent off with 15 minutes remaining following two yellow cards in quick succession for dissent.

The incident did at least seem to spark some life into the game and Marvin Perea headed just wide from Matias Muchardi’s cross.

At death, the Argentine midfielder hit a freekick over the bar as Hibernians held on.

Sportsdesk – Paul Cachia