by Lija Athletic and Mtarfa will conclude the Assikura Women’s League weekend with kick-off set at 16:30 at Mgarr Ground. Jethron Azzopardi’s Lija will be seeking to do the double, while Mtarfa will seek to revitalise their campaign with young graduates.
Two Different Trajectories
Lija Athletic emerged victorious in the first encounter between the two, securing a 3-1 victory, to notch their first three points. Although not managing to increase their points tally since, the side only succumbed to a narrow defeat against San Gwann and continued to improve in their results against other teams as well.
Questioned whether he deems this progress to be enough to do the double over Mtarfa and try to hunt down San Gwann, Lija Athletic’s Jethron Azzopardi said, “The team has been working hard from day one of training. They deserve to have more points by now and we will approach this game as we do with other teams, by trying to get the points out of the game.”
On the other hand, Mtarfa initially showed good response against Lija Athletic to get the draw in the match, but could not hold on to avoid another defeat or indeed change the result in their favour. Since then, results have not improved and so the Blues go into this seeking their first points. Although a poor run of form is difficult to deal with, the discrepancy is not too large and perhaps a good result this afternoon could spur the team toward a better second half to the season. However, getting those first points is crucial.
Player Development & Squad Building
As the season progresses it is easy to forget that Lija Athletic are in their first season together as a team. However, the side seems to be building a real identity. One crucial aspect is of course their guardian between the goalposts. Christiana Pisani has been showing good strides and becoming more reliable for the team to push forward.
Asked about the goalkeeper’s growth and how these qualities enable the team to push further, Jethron Azzopardi praised the work ethic, “Christiana has gained confidence in herself and has been working really well with the goalkeeper’s coach to develop her talent. She is an asset to the team, in both defending and attacking phases.”
On the other hand, as noted above, being in their first season the side is short on numbers to rotate players. However, this is something that the team is also working on. Jethron Azzopardi said, “We are working to sign some players to strengthen our squad and improve our current position.”
In contrast, Mtarfa’s injury woes continued to grow in their final match of last year against Birkirkara. A poor run of form can make it extremely difficult to recruit new players and to add further woes Mtarfa’s Simon Spiteri suggests that this is not their only issue, with a few players also departing the country since. Asked about the situation Spiteri said, “The situation is getting worse with Laura Echeverri Tobon and Elisa Csik both returning to their country.” Echeverri Tobon scored the team’s first goal of the season, while Elisa Csik had grown to be a real positive spark in the team.
However, Simon Spiteri said the team will be boosted by at least two players, “The good news is that we can re-introduce 2008 players such as Jasmine Camilleri and Jade Azzopardi.”
The two sides will fight tooth and nails for the three points to conclude today’s double-header at Mgarr Ground. Kick-off is set at 16:30, following the match between Hibernians and San Gwann (14:00).
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