B’Kara Reach Ninety Games Unbeaten In Win Over Hibernians

Birkirkara reached the milestone following a 2-0 victory over Hibernians. Substitute Francesca Chircop grabbed her first goal for the Stripes in the league, while Raina Giusti wrapped things up late in the match.

Team News

Hibernians’ Keith Gouder stuck with the team that delivered the victory against Swieqi United before the break. Sharon Costantino continued take the goalkeeping duties, protected by the back four of Chloe Ellul, Natalee Geren, Amy Busuttil and Alessia Caschetto. The trio of Kayleigh Chetcuti, Nicole Sciberras and Sarah Urpani continued to operate in the centre of the park, while the attacking duties were shouldered by captain Martina Borg, Alexis Espitia and Leah Ayres.

Birkirkara’s Jose Borg kept faith in the experience of Janice Xuereb in goal and also welcomed the return of the partnership between Charlene Zammit and Stephania Farrugia in the heart of the defence. Ann-Marie Said and Valentina Rapa provided the width. Caitlin Rogers protected the defence, with Gabriella Zahra and Marta Grosso moving further forward. Alishia Sultana provided the attacking width on the right, while Arianna Del Moral shifted to the left. Edith Garcia Falero continued to lead the attack.

Poor Finishing Leads To Goalless Opening Half

Birkirkara opened the match with a clear intent to dominate possession and open up the Hibernians defence. They displayed good play in between the lines, with Valentina Rapa finding Marta Grosso on the wing who delivered a low cross into Arianna Del Moral, but her shot was blocked. Alishia Sultana picked up the pieces with a low strike but her strike went wide of the post.

It set the tone for more chances as the Stripes continued to launch crosses into the box. Sultana delivered another shortly after but Sharon Costantino’s presence was enough to take away the ball from the eyesight of Edith Garcia Falero, ruining her ability to time the header.

Hibernians attempted to grow into the match and increase their possession, however Natalee Geren was forced to go long to find Sarah Urpani. Despite this, the ball was shielded out of play by Birkirkara’s captain Stephania Farrugia. The skipper attempted to mirror the attack by trying to release Marta Grosso, which the same Geren read in return. It was the first of many battles between Grosso and Geren, who matched each other for pace and cancelled each other out most of the time.

Kayleigh Chetcuti also attempted to release Leah Ayres who showed good movement to find space in between the defending pair but she was caught offside once the pass was released.

Birkirkara went into another gear toward the quarter hour mark and started to rain shots but could not find the target. Alishia Sultana dragged another shot wide, before Ann-Marie Said also could not trouble Sharon Costantino with a free-kick. Caitlin Rogers’ run into the box was also picked out by Alishia Sultana but Costantino was unfazed by the header.

At the other end, Hibernians’ Kayleigh Chetcuti managed to win a corner and earn an opportunity to test Janice Xuereb for the first time. However, Birkirkara were alert to the danger. Chetcuti also won a free-kick after a mistimed challenge from Stephania Farrugia, however Geren got too much power behind the attempt from long-distance. Chetcuti was also instrumental in creating another attack for the Paolites shortly after, which saw the team develop one of their best combinations, with Martina Borg and Sarah Urpani also involved. However, the final ball to find Chetcuti’s run behind the defence was read by Stephania Farrugia.

Jose Borg was starting to get frustrated with the attacking effort of his team and started to make tactical tweaks shortly after that. The first move was to swap Arianna Del Moral and Alishia Sultana out on the wing. The two almost combined as Sultana darted down the left wing and pinged a cross to Del Moral. She cut back to Garcia Falero but her shot was also off target.

Growing more frustrated at the lack of end product, Borg made his first substitution three minutes from half-time, bringing on Raina Giusti in replacement of Arianna Del Moral. Giusti got into the thick of it immediately leaving her mark on Chloe Ellul with a strong challenge which had the Hibernians contingent fuming at the lack of a booking, but the referee dismissed the calls. Garcia Falero had another opportunity to put the team in front as the half dragged to a close. Grosso won the ball on the edge of the box, releasing into Sultana whose cross found Garcia Falero, but she was unable direct the effort goalward in what was her last act of the evening.

Half-Time Score: Hibernians 0 – 0 Birkirkara

Birkirkara Find Opening Goal

Jose Borg made further changes at half time, bringing on Veronique Mifsud and Francesca Chircop in straight swaps with Gabriella Zahra and Edith Garcia Falero respectively. Despite this, the Stripes could not immediately pick up where they left off in the half, with Hibernians effective at closing down the spaces with disciplined defending.

Raina Giusti found Francesca Chircop with a cross in the 54th minute, but the number seven struggled to get the desired connection. At the other end, Sarah Urpani tried her luck from distance but Janice Xuereb was equal to the strike. Shortly after, the Stripes’ Ann-Marie Said took charge of another free-kick after Charlene Zammit was fouled. However, the strike from Said also lacked the necessary dip.

The game’s quality took a dive at this point, with both teams struggling to find a spark in play. Despite this, the two slogged away at each other and it was the Stripes who prevailed. Raina Giusti struck the crossbar from distance, and Francesca Chircop was alert to head the rebound into the bottom right corner to send her team in front in the 68th minute. There was some commotion following the goal with Hibernians feeling that the striker was offside, but the goal stood.

Hibernians’ Push For Equalizer Exposes Them To Second

Hibernians took some time to respond but got a good chance to put the ball into the box in the 75th minute when Stephania Farrugia was deemed to have shoved Martina Borg in the back as the two challenged for an aerial ball. Geren took charge of the delivery once more, but Janice Xuereb commanded the box and punched away before Charlene Zammit put a boot through it to get distance into the clearance.

Ann-Marie Said won a free-kick on the wing in the 78th minute, at which point Gouder looked to his bench swapping out Sarah Urpani with Nyorah Celeste. Meanwhile, Jose Borg opted to swap his wingers once more, with Giusti occupying the right wing, while Sultana going into the left. The Stripes had two successive corner kick opportunities around ten minutes from time but could use them to good effect to extend the lead.

Keith Gouder opted for more changes a couple of minutes later to go more on the offensive in attempt to recover a point. He switched out Alessia Caschetto for Yolande Attard. The swap was accompanied by a change in formation to a back-three, while Nyorah Celeste pushed up in attack together with Ayres, Espitia and Borg. Tensions ran high as the referee booked personnel from the Hibernians’ dugout shortly after.

However, as the Paolites flooded forward to get the equaliser, the Stripes were ready to exploit the open spaces and they were rewarded in the 86th minute. Veronique Mifsud played a through ball for Giusti to chase, who dribbled past the rushing Costantino before passing it into the gaping net.

Jose Borg freshened things up immediately after, bringing on Martina Fenech and Mariah Cardona, who swapped with Alishia Sultana and Ann-Marie Said, respectively. Fenech’s entrance pushed Giusti back onto the left wing, while Fenech occupied the right.

Hibernians attempted to get a goal back in the latter stages of the match through a free-kick opportunity which led into a corner. However, Janice Xuereb collected the ball to ensure her clean sheet.

Full-Time Score: Hibernians 0 – 2 Birkirkara

Next Matches

With that win Birkirkara ensured that their unbeaten run continues, reaching 90 games, as well as maximum points in the campaign so far. Meanwhile, Hibernians suffer their first loss of the campaign and will look to bounce back next Saturday 21 October at 15:00 against San Gwann, at Mgarr Ground. The Stripes will play against Valletta next, on Thursday 19th October at the Centenary Stadium, 20:15.

There are still two more games to be played out today at Dingli Ground as San Gwann and Mtarfa meet for the first time (15:00), followed by the encounter between Mgarr United and Lija Athletic (17:30).

Lead Image: Just One Click Media

Stay up to date by following The Sporting Fan on social media: Instagram ~ Facebook ~ X