by Swieqi United and San Gwann will kick off matchday four this evening at the Centenary Stadium, at 20:15. The Owls’ Dorianne Theuma is looking for her team show growth in putting training into practice in search of getting back to winning ways. San Gwann’s Julian Camilleri expects his side to fight to protect their lead in the table.
On The Back Of Crucial Encounters
Swieqi United and San Gwann will head into tonight’s fixture with roles reversed as this time it will be the Owls chasing the Yellows for the spot at the higher end of the table. Swieqi United have missed to take points against Hibernians and Birkirkara, while San Gwann secured wins against Mtarfa and Lija Athletic to sit with six points in hand out of an available nine.
Dorianne Theuma reflected on the 4-1 defeat to Birkirkara, “The experience Birkirkara have will always give them a big push, especially in direct encounters. We had a good start, but against a team like Birkirkara we had to be a bit more clinical during certain periods of the game. We are aware that we are a work in progress and hopefully take this game as a lesson.”
The side appeared to go more direct at times against the Stripes, but probed on whether this was to overcome the midfield battle or to attempt a new approach, Swieqi United’s coach suggested that ultimately variation was not the issue. She said, “All areas of Birkirkara are strong, therefore we tried different options to get past them. However, as I said before we were not clinical enough and lacked experience during certain situations in the game.”
Meanwhile, San Gwann’s Julian Camilleri was happy to get the three points against Lija Athletic, with 2 -1 score. However, probed about the number of chances created, Camilleri replied, “It’s true that it was a match where we created a lot and had we scored them all we’d have gone into double digits. However, Lija are a strong team, especially defensively and we see this also from their result against Birkirkara. We must learn from our mistakes and fix them.”
The match against Lija Athletic saw another player take to the fore, as Yasmin Attard grabbed the winning goal of the match. Julian Camilleri underlined the work done to develop the whole squad and the importance of all players to pull their weight.
He said, “I’m someone who likes to experiment. Maybe not many realised that last year I changed several players and even changed their positions. Every player is important, from the youngest to the oldest. I look at what we need in a match and adapt according to those situations.”
Match Expectations
Contrary to most of the past encounters, the way that fixtures have panned out in the first three outings means that, this time, it will be Swieqi United chasing San Gwann.
Julian Camilleri admitted his team will go into the match under far less pressure than their competition, but urged his team not to let their foot off the gas. He said, “Swieqi is a team with vast abilities. They may have less points than us right know, but what I am sure of is that although we don’t have the pressure that they have currently, we cannot go into this match happy go lucky. We must fight for every ball and as always I believe that if we work together as a squad then we should be happy with both the performance and the result.”
San Gwann’s coach rallied his troops to protect their lead in the table, “As soon as the whistle goes we must consider that we have something precious in our hands that we mustn’t let them take from us. Whatever we can acquire further from this match is welcome and we will be more than happy with it.”
His counterpart, Dorianne Theuma, is cognisant of the fact that San Gwann have continued building on last season’s positive trajectory, “We are aware than San Gwann definitely improved from last year, investing in the team and signing a few new players.”
However, the Swieqi United coach is expecting her team to put training into practice tonight in search of getting back on track, “Taking all three points will always be the teams’ main aim, no matter the opponent. However, I expect the team to be tactically disciplined and transfer what we trained to the game.”
The match will initiate the fourth Assikura Women’s League weekend. It will be played under the lights at the Centenary Stadium, beginning at 20:15.
Lead Images: Lara Schembri
Stay up to date by following The Sporting Fan on social media: Instagram ~ Facebook ~ X
