Hibernians & Birkirkara To Restart League Commitments Under Afternoon Sun

Hibernians & Birkirkara will be the first of this Saturday’s Assikura Women’s League double-header at the Charles Abela Stadium (KO 14:00). Martina Borg weighed in on the impacts of a friendly and early youth league restart on today’s match, while eyeing a strong restart this afternoon.

The Impact Of Friendlies & An Early Youth League Return

Hibernians will be returning to league action against Birkirkara this afternoon as the two reinitiate their competitive commitments for this season.

Hibernians head into it having had the opportunity to play a friendly against Inter, before their U21 players returned to their Youth League exploits in which they are on knife-edge in achieving an unbeatable mathematical advantage for the trophy.

Martina Borg believes both commitments have aided the side to have a head start toward this league return, “Yes, I believe both were beneficial. The friendly against Inter and the restart of the Youth League helped us maintain rhythm and competitiveness, keeping the squad motivated and mentally ready. They allowed us to approach this phase with continuity rather than feeling like a complete restart, which is important when you want to build momentum and consistency.”

Similarly, Birkirkara had a 3 – 1 victory against Valletta before the Christmas period, with several youth players returning to Youth League action over the past two weeks. The Youths had a mixed start with a narrow defeat to San Gwann, followed by a 1 – 0 victory against Valletta this week. Given a large number of players are now balanced between the two leagues, the Stripes will have several who are already into their match rhythm.

Transfer Talk

The two teams have had different starts to the season. Hibernians confirmed Martina Borg as the new head coach shortly after the end of the 2024/25 season, before the side secured several signings over the summer with a delayed arrival for both Sylivia Kabene and Misozi Zulu completing the mix.

On the other hand, Billy Mock’s arrival at Birkirkara was matched by a number of signings, but Mock’s tenure ended shortly before the Christmas break, with Charlene Zammit taking up what is understood to be a player-coach role for the moment. The club also confirmed the departure of two summer signings: Maya Pellegrini and Patricia Lamanna, with the duo unable to make a significant impact in the league in their short spell.

Martina Borg confirmed that Hibernians are not in the market for immediate signings, despite the gap to league leaders Mgarr United, “At the moment, there are no signings in prospect. Our main focus is on consolidating the group we already have and working hard to achieve consistency in our performances. I strongly believe in the players at my disposal, and the priority is to continue developing cohesion, trust, and a clear identity on the pitch rather than making changes for the sake of it.”

No Given Points

The Paolites have had the upper hand this year in confrontations, but Martina Borg rejected that the previous one-sided encounters should be taken as a given outcome. “No, I never expect a one-sided match against Birkirkara. They have players with experience and quality which, at this level, can always make a big difference. Every match has its own story, regardless of previous results or changes. We respect the opponent and we know we must give our very best if we want to achieve another positive result against them.”

Birkirkara have ground to make up, eight points below the Paolites and nineteen points below the league leaders Mgarr United.

The two teams kick-off at 14:00 at the Charles Abela Stadium. The match will be followed by the other encounter from the Assikura Women’s League between Swieqi United and San Gwann (KO 16:30).

The Sporting Fan fielded similar questions to Birkirkara’s Charlene Zammit but no responses were received at the time of writing.

Lead Image: Maraya Gauci

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