by Swieqi United closed off their league commitments with a 7-3 victory against Hibernians. The Owls secured the Assikura Women’s Youth League (U19) title in an unbeaten manner, having dropped only two points throughout the campaign. Coach Dorianne Theuma provided comments in steering the team towards the title in her first season in charge, while weighing in on the challenges when coaching at the transitional level between grassroots and senior football.
An Unbeaten League Title
Swieqi United lifted the Assikura Women’s Youth League trophy with 58 points and in an unbeaten manner. The side took pole position early in the season and closed the league title in sixteen matches, with four games left to play.
The Owls closed off their league commitments with an early evening kick-off against Hibernians yesterday, which they won by 7-3. They earned themselves a comfortable scoreline at half-time of 5-0, following a poker from Karima Abdulai and a goal by Maria Vella. Hibernians’ presented a real come-back attempt following the change of ends, with Nyorah Celeste bagging a hat-trick within the first fifteen minutes. However, the Owls completed the victory with goals by Kaysia Micallef and captain Tammy Falzon in the final minutes of the match.
Coach Dorianne Theuma steered the team to lift this title in her first season in charge. Probed about the feat, she replied, “At this level the first focus is of course on developing the players. However, there is satisfaction in remaining unbeaten throughout the league with just one draw, and there is the satisfaction in seeing the players grow from match to match. There is more work to be done, but for a first season with the team it is great to achieve this.”
Probed about the importance of support from the rest of coaching team within Swieqi United and the structure that enables a winning team, the coach said, “I’ve had experiences with other clubs, both as a player and as a coach. As a club, Swieqi United has always provided support especially when things got tough. The setup is one that you enjoy working within, it is one that is as professional as possible despite being an amateur team. You see the same structure at U16 and U13 level, that you see in the senior level, which is not easy at amateur level.”
Control & Purpose In Possession
The side often enjoyed plenty of possession, with a midfield trio who usually appeared as if of one mind in enabling the team to go from defence into attack. Vice captain Michaela Cachia was often one of the three maestros in the middle for the team, alongside Ema Micallef and Shannen Mallia. With attackers also supported by the full-backs, the team produced a whopping 80 goals, while conceding 16.
Kaysia Micallef led the scoring charts in the league with 21 goals, while Karima Abdulai chipped in with 18 goals, and Salamatu Abdulai with 14. Nyorah Celeste of Hibernians split Micallef and Abdulai with 20 goals. Swieqi United’s Kim Fava and Maria Vella chipped in with another five apiece.
In defence, goalkeeper Chanelle Borg was often protected by captain Tammy Falzon and Aisha Micallef as centre-backs, while Ilona Abela, Thea Ida Scicluna and Leanne Frendo were often employed as full-backs. Amy Portelli and Michaela Mifsud Gauci also grew into the team later in the season.
Maintaining An Unbeaten Streak While Managing Transition
While the team set itself on course for the title and sealed it early on, they dropped points against second-placed Valletta in the final encounter, in a match where they secured the draw only in the final ten minutes. The next match against third-placed Birkirkara required even more character, to come back from a goal down to win it by 2-1.
Probed about the importance of securing those results to maintain an unbeaten streak, even though the title was already theirs, Dorianne Theuma replied, “I think it is natural that once the league is won players go into the pitch with less pressure. It was also a time when the senior’s league was going through a crucial period with a lot of direct encounters, so the focus shifted more toward the seniors. However, I cannot criticise the team. We started very strong in the first two rounds and it is normal that the consistency drops slightly.”
In fact, the Assikura Women’s Youth League limits players to the U19 age-bracket, providing the vehicle for transitioning from the BNF Women’s National League (U16) to the Assikura Women’s League (senior).
While several players established themselves in the first-eleven within the senior side, there were also those balancing the U19 category duties against the U16 matches, some of whom made real impact including the likes of Ilona Abela, Kay Axiak and Amy Portelli.
Asked about managing that transition as a coach, Dorianne Theuma commented, “Since I was playing with the same team, I could follow the players as they trained with both senior and U19 teams, or those playing with the U19 and U16. So, that helped a lot.”
She explained, “Players responded well to the challenges and even in the latter stages of the season where I was coaching both the senior and the U19, it became even easier to be able to balance giving the depth to the senior squad through those eligible from the U19s, while then utilising those from the U16s who could contribute to the U19 team. I think we managed to do the best we can from the situation.”
On the flip side, Dorianne Theuma nodded to the challenge of coaching a team where players are constantly balancing two leagues. “Since many players were playing two leagues, there was a difficulty in having time to train as a unit. Perhaps we had time to train together the two days before a match, but then the bulk nucleus of the team had to train with the seniors to prepare for that upcoming match. Similarly, with the U16s they would need to prepare for their own Sunday match. So, as a coach perhaps that was the biggest struggle as an U19 coach, which means that it limits the time you spend with them. In my case it helped a lot that I was also present with the seniors in training.”
Eyeing The Double
The team will celebrate achieving this league title, but will be firmly focused toward making the sweep by also clinching the Assikura Women’s Youth Knockout to start within a week’s time.
Asked about preparing for that competition, Dorianne Theuma said, “Certainly we want to win the title. I am certain that teams will provide a tough challenge and in fact today I was happy to see the fight back from Hibernians who also tried to change the result from 5-0. So, players know that everyone is ready to take the battle to them. The Knockout is an objective, we will take it match by match.”
Swieqi United will take on Birkirkara in their first-round in the Assikura Women’s Youth Knockout. The match will be played on 1st May at 14:00 at Sirens Stadium. The other first round match between SKMM and San Gwann will follow at 16:30.
Lead Image: Michael Azzopardi (Swieqi United FC)
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