San Gwann and Lija Athletic will be meeting at 14:00 at Dingli Ground. Julian Camilleri and Jethron Azzopardi discussed their most recent results, changing squad depths and the expectations from this afternoon’s fixture as Lija Athletic aim to beat San Gwann for the first time this season.
In Winning Form
San Gwann will welcome a buoyed Lija Athletic, with the two teams heading into this afternoon’s encounter on the back of victories in their last fixtures.
San Gwann continued their unbeaten streak with a 5 – 1 victory against Mtarfa. However, the Yellows conceded their first goal against the Blues this season. Julian Camilleri commended the Blues, but admitted his team felt the disappointment of losing the clean sheet. “It was somewhat disappointing. We can never relax too much in those latter minutes. However, credit to Mtarfa who have been improving and I want to congratulate them on the progress that they are making.”
There was a debutant in the fold for San Gwann, in Mariama Kasimi. Questioned about the decision to bring her in January despite having been reluctant to rock the boat previously, Julian Camilleri replied, “We were looking for foreign players to sign with the U19 squad. We did not manage to bring them in time for the start of the season, but brought them in now. In the absence of Rabab (Mhalli), I could give Mariama (Kasimi) a chance with the seniors, and it allowed me to advance Nanako (Kobayashi).”
Counterpart Jethron Azzopardi was ecstatic with a maiden victory against Valletta, whom they beat by 1 – 0 in terrible pitch conditions. Asked about securing the victory and whether he believed the match should have been called off due to the severely waterlogged pitch, Jethron Azzopardi replied, “The victory has been long coming, finally we managed to get the deserved three points. Obviously all the team was happy with the result. The conditions weren’t the best, but with twenty-five minutes remaining it didn’t make sense to stop the match. If I were the referee, I would have stopped it at half-time.”
There were positives not just in the score, but also in the return of Rachel Mifsud from injury, as well as the introduction of another youngster, Lisa Calleja.
Questioned about whether he believes this helps to add depth in positions, or whether it further enables him to shift players into other positions, Jethron Azzopardi did not give too much away, but acknowledged the backing from the club, “As stated in previous months, we had problems with injuries and lack in squad depth. The club worked hard to have numbers and quality and it is showing in recent games.”
There was also positive news regarding Vanessa Honorio Carneiro who was substituted with what appeared to be a serious injury at half-time, “Vanessa is well and will be fit to play on Saturday.”
Rivalry Renewed?
The two teams offered an intense rivalry last season. This year Lija Athletic have had more of a turbulent season against the consistency displayed by San Gwann, with the side unable to earn a single point against them.
However, Julian Camilleri maintained that Lija Athletic remain a competitor not to be underestimated, “Lija have always been close to us and we cannot underestimate them.” Probed on pushing his team to use the confidence of the positive string of results to push in attack, or whether he believes this could open them up to surprises from Lija, the San Gwann coach maintained the importance of sticking to their philosophy. He said, “Our aim remains to bring home the three points while playing with the style that we have been building.”
Lija Athletic’s Jethron Azzopardi is backing his side to show their progress and back last week’s win with a positive result against San Gwann, “We already showed that we can be a strong opposition to them. Now we worked on our endurance and some new tactical work that we started showing in the past two matches. We are eager to play at our full potential.”
The two teams will kick off this afternoon’s double-header at Dingli Ground, starting at 14:00. The match will be followed by the encounter between Valletta and Mtarfa (16:30).
Lead Images: Lara Schembri / Elise Bajada
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[…] afternoon will conclude league commitments before the international break, as San Gwann take on Lija Athletic at 14:00, followed by Valletta and Mtarfa at 16:30. Both matches will be played at Dingli […]