by Mgarr United and Birkirkara will be meeting at Dingli Ground at 16:30. Vince Galea & Ryan Vella spoke about their team’s trajectories, navigating injuries and tactical tweaks as their sides battle for the top rungs. Both sides head into the match with a point to prove.
Testing Resilience
Equal on 32 points, Mgarr United and Birkirkara will head into the final match of this round of fixtures with the target to distinguish themselves from each other. They will also know that three points enables one of them to close the gap to Swieqi United and Hibernians before the end of the round, despite several direct confrontations still to play for.
Birkirkara have had a tough time of things, with two narrow defeats against Hibernians and Swieqi United. Vince Galea gave his assessment in view of title ambitions, “Unfortunately in both last games, we had moments in the game were we lacked concentration and composure. This has led to two consecutive defeats which we are not happy about. We need to be much better in controlling some moments of the game.”
Meanwhile, Mgarr United have settled for draws against both Swieqi United and Hibernians, with the team showing much change in their starting elevens. Ryan Vella spoke about the draw to Hibernians, “I thought that our performance was a positive one. Unfortunately, we had multiple players missing with injuries, but once again our team did a very good job in limiting Hibernians to very few goal scoring opportunities.”
The Mgarr coach hailed the fighting mentality displayed by his side, “Even though we conceded just before half-time, the players kept pushing for the winner, especially in the final parts of the game where we had two to three really good goalscoring opportunities that could’ve won us the match.”
Tactical Tweaks, Injuries & Returns
Birkirkara’s Vince Galea was probed about the trajectory of the return of first-choice goalkeeper Janice Xuereb and captain Stephania Farrugia. “Janice is training really hard individually and with the squad, and we are happy with her improvements. She has been already added to the match squad but we need to do this return gradually. Steph is in the second phase of her rehab as well, and started her training on the pitch.”
Meanwhile, Martina Fenech had started to amass regular minutes in the team, but the Birkirkara coach confirmed that she is also sidelined, “Martina hopefully will start her rehab as well in the coming days.”
Besides these injuries, Birkirkara’s depth has also been whittled down due to other reasons, with the Birkirkara coach questioned on his thoughts of how his current crop of players have responded to perhaps having even bigger roles than they expected at this stage of the season.
Vince Galea gave his thoughts, “Unfortunately, besides the injuries, we have some players that we cannot count on due to personal commitments. However, this gave our club the opportunity to promote other players and while results may sound negative, the crucial experience some players are getting in training and in top clashes will be beneficial for the future. We will keep working to reach our objectives in this aspect as well.”
Meanwhile, Mgarr United featured more rotation against Hibernians. Ryan Vella confirmed that there is no injury to Abigail Camilleri who has rarely missed a start this season, “The change was purely tactical. Abigail is having a really good season and is one of the most consistent performers. However, for that game we felt that we needed to tweak a bit our system to have more of an advantage in certain scenarios of the game.”
Maia Debono was also missing, having held down the defensive midfield duties for the team throughout the season. Ryan Vella confirmed that her absence will be a longer one, “Unfortunately for us, Maia will be out for quite sometime. We’re hoping that her recovery can be swift and that she can be back playing soon as she’s a very important asset in our team.”
On the other hand, the team welcomed back Ann-Marie Said against Hibernians. Speaking about her return and contributions, Ryan Vella said, “Ann-Marie is making progress day after day and is close to returning to full fitness. We’re very pleased to have a player like Ann making her way back during this tough period of the season. Her leadership and experience can be a big asset especially in these decisive games that we have coming up.”
A Point To Prove
As noted above, the two teams take to the pitch on equal standing. The two sides could not be separated in the first encounter of the season, but Birkirkara roared to a 3 – 1 victory in the second round. However, heading into this one, both sides will feel they have a point to prove.
Birkirkara will seek to turn their fortunes, “We will focus on this game and put all our efforts to get this game right.” However, Birkirkara’s coach is not resting on the win that his team amassed against the Greens last time out, “Mgarr has consistently improved from our last encounter, so we need to be on to be at the top of our game to get the edge.”
On the other hand, Mgarr United are certainly looking to show their growth since their defeat to the Stripes, “The last game against Birkirkara was very tough for us, as we know that we didn’t do well enough and we didn’t deserve anything from the game. However, I feel that since that game the team made positive strides, especially in these direct encounters. So, this game is about keeping the consistency of the last few games and keep building momentum as we head into the last six matches.”
The two teams will conclude today’s double clash at Dingli Ground, with the kick-off set at 16:30, following the match between Swieqi United and Hibernians (14:00).
Lead Image: Elise Bajada
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