by Swieqi United and Hibernians will initiate the final round of the Assikura Women’s League tonight at the Centenary Stadium (20:15). Dorianne Theuma and Kenneth Costantino provided their assessment on last weekend’s exploits and tonight’s match, while also asked to weigh in on injuries in relation to the league split.
Until The Final Whistle
Last weekend could have ended the title race, but Hibernians’ victory over Birkirkara, paired with Swieqi United’s victory over Mgarr United continued to throw more spanners in the works at the top of the table. While the final round of matches could have been played to push tallies to the maximum, things are not quite concluded just yet.
Swieqi United bounced back with a strong showing against Mgarr United, managing also to keep a clean sheet to reduce the gap to Birkirkara, while maintaining their noses ahead of Hibernians. They managed to do this despite also fielding more inexperienced players.
Swieqi United’s Dorianne Theuma summed up the performance, “At this point in the competition it is very important to take home all three points and keep a high moral. Collectively we had a solid performance, and as you very well said, we had a few youths in the starting line up, who despite might lack experience, rose to the occasion perfectly.”
Likewise, Hibernians frustrated Birkirkara to the final minutes, before grabbing the all important goal in injury time. Prior to the match against the Stripes, Kenneth Costantino gave a very level-headed response about the expectations of the teams going into the match, considering the injury list and also Birkirkara’s dominance in the past. Despite this, the team held under pressure before making the most of a late forward surge, ultimately converting from a penalty to grab the victory.
Asked about getting their first victory over Birkirkara since their return from hiatus, against all of these hurdles, Hibernians’ Kenneth Costantino replied, “It was a surprise in the sense that we were realistic about the fact that we had not taken points from Birkirkara since rejoining the league. The even bigger surprise was to get it when having such a big number of first eleven players missing, including Martina (Borg), Nicole (Sciberras), Zeeyana (Jivraj) and Amy (Busuttil), making it an even bigger feat. This, when considering that we had several U19 players in Maya Muscat, Amber Galea and Federica Zahra starting the match, with the latter duo making their first senior start. Our substitutes were also young, around sixteen to seventeen years old.”
Costantino nodded to the balanced risk in deciding between pushing established players into the field, as opposed to taking a chance on youngsters in such an important match, “It highlights the fact that we are limited in available players for the senior team, but it also shows that we believed that these young players were ready for the game. We could have tried to push Martina for example, but I think it would have been a useless risk in the sense that to me the players’ health comes before any result. In the circumstances, we believed in giving the younger players a chance to show their worth.”
Assessing The Growing Injury List
As noted above, the two teams featured a number of younger players in their starting eleven which continues the trend observed also with other teams as the injury toll increases. Among fresh absentees for Swieqi United was Jessica Dimech who is confirmed to be injured following the international break. She joins Swieqi United’s injured list in Emma Xuereb, Mandy Debono and Gabriella Tonna, among others. Meanwhile, Amy Busuttil and Martina Borg were fresh absentees for Hibernians, while Nicole Sciberras and Zeeyana Jivraj have already been missing for a number of games, besides others.
While injuries are varied in nature and are difficult to pin on one factor, the intensity of matches and recovery in between is one factor that is worthy of consideration. This year, the league split from January has resulted in a different dynamic for the past two months which features more balanced and intense matches every week for the various teams. In this regard, the two sides were probed about their thoughts on whether the league split has exposed the need for improvement in gearing players to be able to handle the increase in intensity.
Swieqi United’s Dorianne Theuma weighed in, “I don’t believe these injuries came about because of the league format. In fact, most of our injuries came in the first part of the season. However, I do feel at times we are rushing the league to a close, and at times the schedule is a bit jam packed. For women’s football to improve, it’s important for us to have a high number of high intensity matches and a main factor to cope with this load is to have the right periodisation plan, week in week out.”
On the other hand, Kenneth Costantino replied, “Injuries will always happen, it’s part and parcel of the game. However, if you see the line-ups or maybe all of the teams, maybe except Birkirkara, you might see that there are a number of injuries in all the teams, certainly in the top four at least. Perhaps Birkirkara are doing something better than us, but I genuinely don’t think so. I think the fact that Birkirkara have such a large squad that enables them to rotate from one game to another makes a difference. When you have a limited pool of players, they are under continuous stress which they are not used to, and then this results in injuries.”
In this regard, Costantino agreed with his counterpart on the relevance of the packed calendar, “I think one has to question whether we have too many games and whether these games are too close to each other. For example, having international windows and the domestic games starting three days after. Another would be players in the U19 team and playing with the senior teams. Players are not used to this and in my opinion this loading is excessive. So, hopefully something is done to tackle such issues next year, before the start of the league.”
Looking at the broader perspective of changes, Costantino continued, “From my personal opinion, there were many changes since last year that I do not agree with and in many ways I’ve been proven right over the year in a number of situations. I have made my concerns known to the relevant decision makers and I think it is very important that such big decisions are only taken when every fine detail has been considered.”
Elaborating on the matter, Costantino said, “To give one example, the move to play on the weekend maybe attracts bigger crowds and maybe within itself it is a good move. However, one also needs to ask whether we have enough officials of a high quality to officiate on Saturdays or whether we end up with a lot of frustration and inappropriate decisions that maybe influence results. The same can be asked for the pitches to be played in on the weekend and whether these are of the required quality for the level of the game. These are all things that must be thought of.”
Looking Ahead To Tonight’s Match
While the league title is firmly on the agenda, the two teams remain separated only by two points, making this an encounter with tangible rewards for either side. Both teams head into it knowing that they achieved victory against all of the teams in the league. On the other hand, it is a season in which consistency has been lacking.
Probed about the importance of maintaining momentum into this final stretch against a Hibernians team who continues to rise to the challenge, Dorianne Theuma replied, “We know Hibernians are coming from two important wins against Mgarr and Birkirkara. At this point, we are focusing on what we can control and taking it game by game. Tonight we have to perform at our best and be at the top of our game.”
Meanwhile, Hibernians’ Kenneth Costantino was asked whether he views the team as dark-horses in the race considering they are fighting at the top of the table despite their return to the league just last year.
Costantino began his response putting into perspective Hibernians’ history in the game, “I think it is important to remember that we are Hibernians, a team who has a history in local football and women’s football. It is a club with ambition, plans and is made up of people who know the game. It is true that we are outsiders in the sense of battling for second place considering our return, but it is not something that is new for us as a club. In this sense, I think it is true that we had an uphill battle just returning last season, having lost all of the players, and this makes it a feat within itself (to be fighting for second). I think there are many clubs who were involved way before and have not performed better than Hibernians have. So, obviously that is something to consider with great pride.”
Looking at tonight’s match, Costantino concluded, “We’ll be preparing for the game as we have done with other games before. We will be determined and focused to do our best, meticulously exploiting weaknesses of our opponents, while trying to limit ours. The result could be either way, but the work being done is immense, especially by the players who have answered very well to the added training loads and demands of the coaching staff. In this regard, I think the results so far are merited for the dedication and team unity.”
The stage is set for another crucial battle in the Assikura Women’s League. The two will be free to stretch their legs at the Centenary Stadium, with the referee’s whistle kick-starting the match at 20:15.
Lead Image: Lara Schembri
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