by Hibernians will be facing Birkirkara at 14:00 at the Charles Abela Stadium to kickstart the final round of the Assikura Women’s League. Separated by just two points in a four-horse title race, coaches Kenneth Costantino and Vince Galea discussed achieving objectives amid the pressure.
Reeling
There’s just three more matches left for both sides. Having navigated plenty of highs and lows throughout the season, Hibernians and Birkirkara will kickstart the final round in the Assikura Women’s League just two points apart.
Hibernians fell to a 3 – 0 defeat to Swieqi United which Kenneth Costantino admitted was a match in which his side fell short against the Owls, who on their part were lethal.
Discussing his view of the match he said, “The match against Swieqi was not one of our best games. Yet, if you put everything on the balance you can see that Swieqi had four shots on target and scored three. Two were from set pieces. On the other hand, we produced very little in the final third. We still had a few opportunities to conclude and just missed the connection or the shot was blocked. So, while we accept the result, we feel it does not reflect the reality of the contest. However, we still need to improve especially in the final third.”
Meanwhile, Birkirkara gritted their teeth and finally came away with the goods in a match where they grasped a 4 – 0 win against Mgarr United to close the gap to their rivals and maintain course for a title defence.
Coach Vince Galea was probed on how much the scoreline reflected the desire, and in a sense the anger, his team had toward the number of times in which they walked away from matches with little this season in these direct confrontations.
Measured as ever, Birkirkara’s coach replied, “It was a matter of continuing to work on consistently improving our performances. We believe that we had a really good week of training and the players performed very professionally against Mgarr. It was a performance that gave us a boost for the final part of the season.”
Pressures To Rise To The Challenge
The teams head into this final round well-versed in their opposition’s strengths and weaknesses. However, as they are pushed to the limit, there are key elements that distinguish teams, coaches and players.
Hibernians appear to be missing the winning edge in recent matches, however, several matches have been drawn. Kenneth Costantino was probed for his thoughts on whether these results are a reflection of the tactical awareness that teams have over each other or of the pressures in the title race.
He weighed in, “I think it’s a concoction of things. We need our best players to come up with the goods, but, everyone needs to carry a responsibility to improve their game. We were well aware that this league will require every ounce of energy and grit to forge ahead. The differences between the teams are minimal.”
Meanwhile, Birkirkara’s Vince Galea certainly has faced increasing pressure to get three points on the board in search of maintaining the title defence. Lara May Azzopardi, Stella Francalanza and Mariah Cardona were all among the starting eleven against Mgarr United, while Izabella Camilleri made another appearance from the bench.
The Birkirkara coach was probed about continuing to field youngsters despite the pressures of the competition on themselves and the team. He said, “These players together with others have been training well and consistently during the whole season. It is a matter of us coaches giving them the tools in training to perform and then the confidence and support when we put them in regularly in games.”
Speaking of the importance of developing these players and supporting their growth, he continued, “My job is to assist them as much as possible and to always trust in their abilities, even when they have dips in performance. We want these players ready to play these type of games that are very competitive. It’s in these games where they can get exposed to challenges which will help them to develop. The same can be said for other players which during the season had very good performances: Amelia Vassallo, Maia Gauci, Maya Cachia and Martina Fenech.”
Birkirkara will be keen on these players to rise to the challenge knowing that they will have to take to the pitch without forward duo Alishia Cassar and Erica Bispo who are both suspended following the Malta Football Association’s crackdown on medical examinations of individual players. Hibernians are one of just three teams in the Assikura Women’s League (the other being Swieqi United and Mgarr United), to avoid any suspensions.
Is A Swap On The Cards?
The Top Four are separated by just five points with three more weekends to go. Hibernians lead Birkirkara by just two points, which means that a victory will enable the Stripes to pip the Paolites in the table with two matches to go. However, Hibernians will have three points on their mind to equal Swieqi United’s current tally. The two teams will be hoping that Swieqi United and Mgarr United drop points against each other later in the afternoon.
Hibernians are yet to be beaten by Birkirkara this season. Hibernians’ coach Kenneth Costantino was probed on whether he believes Birkirkara are more dangerous this time, considering their recent strong win against Mgarr United and the momentum they are carrying.
Costantino backed the two teams to give it all out on the pitch, “We both start with a clean sheet. We are both hungry to win and I’m sure it will be an open contest. Birkirkara are always dangerous and I was more than sure that they would be into the league until the very end. However, so do they know that we are equally strong and determined.”
Birkirkara’s Vince Galea was probed on the reverse reality of his opposition’s dip and the prospects of overcoming the Paolites with a first victory that would see his team leap in the table. He replied, “We are not looking at the table. We go in every game as underdogs, having lost so many points in the first games of this round. However, we attack every game with a champions’ mentality and we ask our players to play with confidence and optimism.”
Like his counterpart, he expects both sides to lay it all out on the pitch, “This will be a new game, new challenge and we expect Hibernians to be focused to perform, it’s another final.”
The two teams will open this afternoon’s double-header at the Charles Abela Stadium at 14:00. The match will be followed by the other Top-Four encounter as Swieqi United take on Mgarr United at 16:30.
Lead Image: Lara Schembri
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[…] United are equal with Hibernians on 39, with a win enabling them to equal Swieqi United. However, Hibernians have to deal with Birkirkara this afternoon, who on their part could sandwich themselves in between on 40 points with a […]