Gabriella Zahra clinches BOV Player of the Month of February

by Ayrton Galea - 14th March 2013

Birkirkara's midfielder Gabriella Zahra was rewarded for her recent superb performances as she was voted as the BOV Player of the Month of February.

The award was presented by the BOV Birkirkara Branch Manager, Mr. Bernard Azzopardi. Gabriella chose the Puttinu Cares Foundation as the beneficiary of the donation related to this award.

After being a key-member in last year's squad which managed to clinch the league title unbeaten, Gabriella continued to show her potential this season, as the former Melita player is having another brilliant season.

Having played in several different roles this season, most of them in the offensive department, Gabriella had netted 11 goals in 15 matches so far, and this versatile player is the one with the most appearances out of the squad this season.

Registering three wins out of three matches in February, the Stripes were back on track as they defeated Gozo, Tarxien and Mgarr United respectively. Gabriella, who featured in all three matches was utilised in her more familiar role of a midfielder. Zahra did an excellent job and this reward is a deserved one.

We took the opportunity to talk with Gabriella about this award and about her present season.

Gabriella said, “This award means a lot to me. First because it will keep me motivated to continue giving my utmost in my football, even in times when i am under a lot of stress. This award is even more meaningful because I won it with Birkirkara. This is because my team mates are some of the best players on this island and this therefore makes it a bigger achievement.”

When asked, Gabriella told us “I think my best match for February was the match against Mgarr”.

Yesterday evening, Birkirkara kicked off their Championship Pool phase in style when they came from behind and defeated Hibernians. We asked Gabriella for her thoughts about this match, and how the squad is preparing for the upcoming remaining games, “We have been looking forward for yesterday's game for more than a week. Yesterday, our fighting spirit was tremendous and it showed which team wanted the win most. We are looking forward for the rest of the matches and each one is like a final. The fact that we aren't on top makes us fight more for our place because we don't deserve second or third, but first, and we are going to get there. The atmosphere in the dressing room is amazing. The bond between the young players and the elder players is growing further and this is shown on the pitch. Everyone is thirsty for this league, the players, the coach and the committee members, and all of us are helping each other to fight for it and continue being the best.”

Finally, we asked Gabriella how much she believes that team can really win their second consecutive league, and with total enthusiasm, she concluded by saying, “Our results most of the time are not what they should be because we miss a lot of scoring opportunities. Our opponents are good teams but I believe in my team 100%. We are the champions at the moment and we intend to keep it that way.”

We would like to congratulate Gabriella for this deserved award while we wish her more positive performances in the upcoming matches.

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