by The Assikura Women’s Youth Knockout draws were held yesterday with the competition set to start on April 30th, a week following the closing of the Assikura Women’s Youth League. The path to the final has been established between the six teams seeking this piece of silverware.
Round 1 Matches
Due to just six teams being involved at this level, the first round will feature two matches, while two teams i.e. Hibernians and Valletta, have been drawn to a bye from the first round. The two first round matches will pit league champions Swieqi United against Birkirkara, while SKMM will play San Gwann. The matches will be played on the 30th April and 1st May.
Swieqi United go into the match against Birkirkara having beaten them in all matches this season. The Stripes had the upper-hand in this week’s encounter in the Assikura Women’s Youth League, following a goal by Amelia Vassallo, but Swieqi United managed to turn around the result to a 2-1 victory following two quick-fire goals by Salamatu Abdulai and Karima Abdulai. Despite Swieqi United coming away with the victory, the match is likely to have fired a few warnings for the Owls. An interesting battle could unfold going into the Knockout.
On the other hand, San Gwann downed SKMM in three of the four encounters, with the two sharing the spoils in the other. The match will provide SKMM with a chance to have joy in a different competition, but San Gwann will be hoping for more of the same in search of making it to the semi-finals.
The Semi-Finals
The semi-finals will pit the winner between Swieqi United and Birkirkara against Hibernians, and are scheduled for the 7th and 8th May.
The Paolites showed improvement over the season to get themselves within a chance of third place in the league, albeit they will be fighting an uphill battle on the final match-day to secure it. They need to hand Swieqi United their first defeat in the season, while hoping that Birkirkara fall against bottom of the table, SKMM.
Still, having started the season slowly in the league, the Paolites will hope to utilise all their growth in managing a strong result in their final league match, before seeking to take the battle to their competitors in the Knockout.
Meanwhile, the winner between San Gwann and SKMM will face Valletta, who will certainly finish the league in second place. Valletta have secured all available points against the two and conceded just one goal against them, against SKMM. Those statistics make them heavy favourites to progress from the tie into the final. However, the excitement in cup-ties lies in knowing that a single performance determines progression.
The final is penned in for the 12th May.
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[…] senior teams in Malta’s women’s football. The only trophy still to be contested is the Assikura Women’s Youth Knockout, which pits the U19 teams against each other. That starts this Wednesday 1st May with the first […]
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