Birkirkara Return With Dominant Win Over San Gwann

Birkirkara made it two out of two without a goal conceded, by winning the tie against San Gwann by 8-0. Arianna Del Moral turned her first goal into a first hattrick in the Stripes colours. Alishia Sultana, Edith Garcia Falero, Marta Grosso, Valentina Rapa and Ann-Marie Said completed the scoring.

Team News

Birkirkara’s Jose Borg gave Janice Xuereb her first start in the league this season, and the veteran also wore the captain’s armband in the absence of Stephania Farrugia. In fact, the defence featured a new pairing in Valentina Rapa and Caitlin Rogers, while Charlene Zammit was named on the bench. Alishia Sultana and Ann-Marie Said occupied the wing roles. Gabriella Zahra partnered Veronique Mifsud in front of the defence. Further forward, Marta Grosso and Arianna Del Moral provided width to the attack. Edith Garcia Falero partnered Francesca Chircop in the forward line.

Meanwhile, San Gwann’s Julian Camilleri welcomed the return of goalkeeper Justyne Caruana in goal. She was protected by captain Annabelle Rapa, Fatma Al Girbi, Martina Schembri and Kirstie Vella. In midfield, Rabab Mhalli and Maria Ibrahim provided the width, while Chaimaa Tourki partnered Andjela Kricak. Nilayza Attard supported Cassidy Mihalic in attack.

Four Goals In Ten Minutes

The match started out in a scrappy manner with both sides bringing their own strategy to the fore. Birkirkara were looking to play fast football, making the pitch as wide as possible and crossing into the box for the shot. On the other hand, San Gwann did well to upset their rhythm for the first ten minutes.

However, with time the Stripes started to pile the attacks and getting closer to the net. The twentieth minute saw Birkrikara score their first goal as Gabriella Zahra picked out Marta Grosso with a low cross who blasted it into the net, but it was ruled offside. A couple of minutes later Valentina Rapa headed from Ann-Marie Said’s delivery from the corner flag but she saw her effort sail above the crossbar.

Having knocked on the door, the Stripes opened the score in the 23rd minute, capitalising on a mistake at the back from San Gwann which gave the ball straight to the Stripes. Although Justyne Caruana did well to save the initial shot from Veronique Mifsud, Arianna Del Moral was well positioned to place the rebound.

Alishia Sultana doubled the lead just two minutes later. It was the first time that the Stripes really used the left wing well, with Caitlin Rogers launching toward Ann-Marie Said. She passed back to Veronique Mifsud. Alishia Sultana latched onto a miscued shot, dribbling past the goalkeeper and tapping into the net.

Edith Garcia Falero made it three, by controlling a cross from Marta Grosso before tapping into the net from six yards. The Italian got herself on the scoresheet herself, by netting the fourth goal just five minutes later. She hunted down a loose ball, before dribbling past the goalkeeper and finishing into the gaping net.

Rapa Makes It Five

San Gwann attempted to get something going in attack by launching a ball for Cassidy Mihalic to chase. However, Valentina Rapa took control of the situation before turning the ball over to Janice Xuereb to begin another attack. Rapa was the author of the fifth goal by putting a finishing header on Marta Grosso’s corner delivery in the thirty-seventh minute.

Justyne Caruana did well to stop the Stripes from netting another goal before the end of the half, getting a crucial hand to deny Arianna Del Moral from close range.

Half-Time Score: Birkirkara 5 – 0 San Gwann

Both coaches made a change at the break. Jose Borg gave Francesca Chircop an early rest. She was replaced by Raina Giusti in a straight swap in attack. Meanwhile, Julian Camilleri made a change in defence, bringing on Nicole Camenzuli in replacement of Fatma Al Girbi.

Birkirkara picked up where they left off, while San Gwann struggled to come out of their half initially, before starting to work the offside trap and trying to gain a footing in midfield. The first big opportunity of the second half landed at the feet of Del Moral who was played in by Veronique Mifsud. However, the American could not get enough curl on the shot which crept wide.

Alishia Sultana and Martina Schembri got into it on the right wing ten minutes into the half with the duo leaving their mark on each other. However, neither side managed to make much of the resulting set-pieces. Having a healthy lead, Jose Borg gave a run out to the young duo of Amelia Vassallo and Ylenia Azzopardi in the fifty-eighth minute. The two swapped with Veronique Mifsud and Valentina Rapa, respectively.

Birkirkara Extend Lead

The sixth goal came just a couple of minutes later, with Amelia Vassallo immediately involved in the build-up. Vassallo fed the ball into Sultana who crossed into the box. Ann-Marie Said showed good control to take a touch before putting a right boot through it to send it into the bottom left corner. Sultana came close to netting the seventh close to the seventieth minute, with a strike from distance, but she was denied by the crossbar. Birkirkara’s number nine also saw a second effort clip the bar later on in the match from a corner.

Throughout the half the two coaches appeared to be tweaking their structures with players drifting into positions in attempt to keep each other at bay. Meanwhile, the officials got their fair share of stick following a number of questionable offside decisions.

Birkirkara were the team to still come out on top, when Arianna Del Moral managed to tap in the seventh, following Justyne Caruana’s save from an initial strike by Raina Giusti. Del Moral made it a hattrick shortly after by tapping home Ann-Marie Said’s cross from the wing.

Jose Borg made another substitution to bring on another youngster in Stella Francalanza, who replaced Edith Garcia Falero. The substitute made a good start and got into a good position to try to net home a cross from Giusti but her effort was blocked for a corner. At this point, Julian Camilleri decided to give Yana Sciculna the nod in attack, with Cassidy Mihalic making way.

San Gwann attempted their luck from distance with a couple of shots but neither could trouble Janice Xuereb. Yasmin Attard made a late appearance for San Gwann, while Izabella Camilleri also took to the field for Birkirkara for the final minutes.

Full-Time Score: Birkirkara 8 – 0 San Gwann

Next Matches

Birkirkara make it two out of two before the international break with the victory. The local leagues will break up for the international duties for the upcoming three weeks.

Birkirkara will face sterner opposition the next time out in Hibernians, who they will meet at the Centenary Stadium on Friday 13th October at 18:00. The latter will be buoyant following their victory over Swieqi United on Saturday.

Meanwhile, San Gwann will sink their teeth into preparing for the upcoming fixture against Mtarfa, whom they will play on Saturday 14th October at 15:00 at Dingli Ground.

Lead Image: Lara Schembri

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