Women's Team too strong for Lija Iklin

by Ayrton Galea - 5th November 2014

There has been a lot of controversy about this year's league format of the BOV Women's First Division League, and more eyebrows were raised on Tuesday evening when Birkirkara registered their fourth consecutive victory by defeating Lija-Iklin FC with a result of 19-0.

Having conceded thirty-six goals in the first three matches, the match against Lija Iklin proved to be nothing more than a scoring exhibition for the Stripes and the perfect opportunity for the Birkirkara Coach to rotate his squad and utilise different players.

It was a match that produced no entertainment, bar the Stripes scoring almost every four minutes to register their biggest win in the league, and maintaining their positive start with four wins in a row. By this win, the Stripes remained the only team with maximum points in the league.

Following Under-16's Team players, Mariah Sciberras and Giulia Micallef to make their debut with the Senior Team in the past matches, yesterday evening it was time for defender Alexia Galea to make her debut, as she was included as a substitute in the second half.

Mr. Johann Scicluna kept faith in the 3-5-2 formation and made two changes from the last match. Veteran goalkeeper Nina Dimech replaced Janice Xuereb between the posts while Alishia Sultana replaced Stephania Farrugia. Missing for the Stripes was Maryrose Cardona who was ill, and Rebecca Chircop who has just started her recovery from a knee operation.

The First Half

Two minutes were enough for the Stripes to take the lead. Charlene Schembri, starting in a right wing-back position, produced a fine solo action down the right flank before cutting inside the box and had her shot beating the goalkeeper.

Birkirkara suffered a draw-back on the third minute when forward Kelly Agius Pace twisted her ankle and was unable to continue playing, with the Birkirkara Coach introducing Kim Parnis off the injured Pace.

Birkirkara doubled their lead on the ninth minute. Alishia Sultana saw her shot blocked by the goalkeeper and Kim Parnis also had her shot blocked by the defender. However, Alishia was third time lucky to see her low shot beating the goalkeeper.

The Stripes made them three on the twelfth minute. A pass by Melania Bajada unzipped the defence with Raina Giusti beating the offside trap, who then raced forward and served Kim Parnis, who in turn slotted the ball into an empty net.

Birkirkara added another two goals on fifteenth and sixteenth minute. First, it was Melania Bajada who found the net with an uprising shot that surprised the Lija-Iklin goalkeeper, and just a minute later, in a similar action, Martina Cilia had a brilliant shot from outside the box ending at the back of the net.

The scoring exhibition for the Stripes continued on the twenty-third minute when they made them six thanks to Martina Cilia, who beat the goalkeeper with another fine shot to score her second goal of the day.

The Birkirkara Coach was insisting on possession rather than to search for more goals, but the superiority of the Stripes proved to be too much, as they made them seven on the twenty-sixth minute. Hanna produced a good run down the right flank and crossed inside the box with Alishia connecting home from close range.

Alishia Sultana completed her hat-trick on the half-hour mark with a beautiful shot which ended in the right top corner and just three minutes later, Raina Giusti continued to increase the lead with an excellent strike after served by Mariah Sciberras.

Before the half-time whistle, Birkirkara scored the tenth and eleventh goal, again in quick succession. Martina Cilia completed her hat-trick with another fine shot and just two minutes later, Giusti also scored her third goal of the day when after picking a through ball, she raced forward and beat the goalkeeper with a low shot.

The Second Half

Stressing with his players to keep possession and not searching for more goals, Mr. Johann Scicluna made all the remaining four substitutions. Alishia Sultana, Hanna Tegelmann, Mariah Sciberras and Melania Bajada were all substituted by Yasmeen Vella, Gabriella Zahra, Alexia Scicluna and Alexia Galea, who was making her debut.

Substitute Gabriella Zahra was quick to score a quick-fire brace in space of four minutes. First, two minutes into the second half, she surged forward and beat the goalkeeper with a fine shot and just two minutes later, Zahra combined well with Giusti, with the latter serving Zahra who beat the goalkeeper with a low shot.

Raina Giusti scored her fourth goal of the day close to the hour mark when after receiving a fine through ball, Giusti slotted the ball in the net and twenty minutes inside the second half, Gabriella Zahra completed her hat-trick with a superb shot to make them fifteen for the Stripes.

The sixteenth and seventeenth goals arrived in just two minutes. On the seventeenth minute, Raina collected a pass from the midfield and saw her uprising strike beating the goalkeeper for her fifth personal goal and two minutes later, Yasmeen Vella scored her first goal of the league with a diagonal excellent strike.

Ten minutes from time, Birkirkara increased the margin when Kirstie Vella served Yasmeen Vella who tapped home from close range and five minutes later, Birkirkara scored their last goal with a good strike by Kirstie Vella.

BIRKIRKARA: Nina Dimech, Tara Attard, Kirstie Vella, Charlene Schembri, Mariah Sciberras (46' Alexia Scicluna), Alishia Sultana (46' Yasmeen Vella), Melania Bajada (46' Alexia Galea), Hanna Tegelmann (46' Gabriella Zahra), Martina Cilia, Kelly Agius Pace (3' Kim Parnis), Raina Giusti.

Yellow Cards: Kim Parnis (Birkirkara).

Scorers: 2' Charlene Schembri, 9' Alishia Sultana, 12' Kim Parnis, 15' Melania Bajada, 16' Martina Cilia, 23' Martina Cilia, 26' Alishia Sultana, 30' Alishia Sultana, 33' Raina Giusti, 37' Martina Cilia, 39' Raina Giusti, 47' Gabriella Zahra, 49' Gabriella Zahra, 58' Raina Giusti, 65' Gabriella Zahra, 70' Raina Giusti, 72' Yasmeen Vella, 80' Yasmeen Vella, 85' Kirstie Vella.

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