by Hibernians’ U16 team completed their commitments in the BNF Women’s National League in an unbeaten fashion following a dramatic 4-3 victory over Swieqi United. Below is a short review of their season, with words from coach Kathleen Saliba on the work done to achieve this goal, while nodding to the pride in developing the next generation of players.
Winning As A Team
Hibernians U16s lifted the BNF National Women’s League trophy last Sunday. The team had already secured their place as champions mathematically with three games to spare. However, they ensured that they did it in an unbeaten manner following a dramatic 4-3 victory over Swieqi United on the final matchday.
Led by Kathleen Saliba, the young Paolites displayed plenty of entertaining football throughout the year to secure the title with a 14 point gap over their nearest rivals, Birkirkara.
Asked about steering the team towards the title, while pushing them to develop a proper style of football, Kathleen Saliba said, “My aim at this age is first and foremost to develop the players and give them a head-start to get to international level. As a coach I want fast, two-three touch football. So, I drive my players, there is no place for walking on the pitch, irrespective of its size. You must fight for every ball, be determined to win every tackle and score every goal that you can. So, this started with the work during training for players to be fully active. In matches my job is to guide them, to ensure that this is brought out on the pitch, week by week.”
At such young ages, keeping players focused on the goal can at times be a tricky scenario especially when the lead at the top starts to grow. This is something that Saliba is well aware of. Asked about keeping players focused throughout the season, “I am well known for my loud demeanour,” she joked. “However, I use this to channel my motivation and determination into the players. Football is a moving and fast game. So, I think it’s important to guide players at this age on what they need to do, how to react and what needs to be done,” Saliba explained.
The Paolites’ coach beamed at the quality of players at her disposal across the pitch. Indeed, there can be no argument that the side won the league title as a team. Scoring a total of 68 goals and conceding 6, made for a healthy goal difference to earn the title.
Of interest is the fact that upon looking at the top-scorers list you’ll have to go down to the tenth place to find the first player of Hibernians. In fact the team had a total of seventeen different scorers, with many chipping in with a goal when it mattered, to build the tally toward the title. The side registered their biggest victory against Gudja United.
Indeed Yasmine Ghenam and Olivia Nazarko both grabbed eight goals apiece to propel the team forward. Closely following them are Amy Bello Catania and Pearl May Schembri with seven goals apiece. Amy Bello Catania and Martina Vassallo grabbed the team’s two hat-tricks against Swieqi United and Santa Lucia, respectively.
Swieqi United were the team that most troubled Hibernians defensively, scoring four of the six goals that Hibernians conceded, three of which were on the final matchday. However, on the whole, the team was hard-headed in defence. While goalscorers often get the glory, the team ensured a total of thirteen clean sheets in their bid to secure the title. Besides the input of the defensive unit, who at times also chipped in with the goals as well, goalkeepers Maya Muscat and Geona Muscat displayed some excellent shot-stopping to support the team’s trajectory.
An Unbeaten Streak
Even more impressive is the fact that despite the league split, the team managed to end the league commitments in an unbeaten manner. Seventeen matches played and seventeen matches won.
Swieqi United gave the Paolites a real scare on the final match-day. The Owls nudged in front, before Hibernians made a comeback to 2-1. However, Swieqi United pushed things once more into 3-2, before Hibernians roared back with two goals in injury time to secure a 4-3 victory, before going on to lift the already secured trophy.
Asked about winning the title in an unbeaten fashion, coach Kathleen Saliba replied, “I am very happy that we managed to secure the title without dropping a point. It was a big challenge to maintain this in the last game. We were losing but managed to turn around the result in the final few minutes. We calmed down and kept believing, which shows the real character of this team.”
The Setup To Win & To Develop
Kathleen Saliba was the lead figure, but supported by two coaches who completed a strong setup to drive the team toward their goal. “The more help you have, the more prepared you will be for the matches. Having specialised coaches, like Sharon Costantino to guide the goalkeepers during training allows them to get the dedicated training that they need and boosts their development. This enables me to focus on developing the outfield players.”
Besides specialised goalkeeper’s training, Saliba was also supported by strength & conditioning coach, Demi Gauci Maistre, “She was a great help to be able to build these players from a physical perspective, enabling us to maintain the momentum throughout the season.”
While it is always a joy to get silverware at the end of a long season, Saliba nodded to the pride in seeing players mature and develop throughout the months, “The U16 team is made up of a quality group of players, across the pitch. So, I could work and change things throughout the season to get the points. However, one has to understand that at this age players are really still developing, even physically. So, to see these players grow during the season and make leaps in development is the joy of coaching at this level.”
Kathleen Saliba was clear in her vision of the need for a larger pitch to enable young players to truly be able to develop their game. “The pitch will definitely need to change. It is not big enough to develop an 11-aside game.”
On the other hand, those doing well within the U16 league were given opportunities into the U19 group and toward the latter of the season, some even broke into the senior team. “These opportunities provided an extra push of motivation for players. So, as from January some of the players debuted into the Assikura Women’s Youth League and this helped them greatly to earn more experience. I was happy to see that these youngsters were able to boost the U19 team by their quality too. Others went on to even support the senior team.”
Asked about the future of the team, Kathleen Saliba expressed pride in having led the side to the title, “It was a group of players who were capable to turning around results in whichever situation or period of the league season. It is an honour to have led this team toward winning every single match throughout the season.” Looking to the future, Kathleen Saliba nodded to the pride in continuing to contribute to the growth of women’s football.
Lead Image: Lara Schembri
Stay up to date by following The Sporting Fan on social media: Instagram ~ Facebook ~ X
