Girls Under-16's end league in third place

by Ayrton Galea - 7th April 2014

Birkirkara Girls Under-16's ended their league commitments on a good note. On Sunday morning, a hat-trick by Raina Giusti enabled the Stripes to beat Kirkop United 3-1, to finish the league in the third place.

With the Stripes in a must win situation to make sure of finishing in the third place, Birkirkara promising youngsters gave a fine performance by taking an early lead. After Kirkop's controversial equaliser, Birkirkara scored twice in the second half to seal the issue with the 3-1 score.

Raina Giusti was the hero for the Stripes by scoring all three goals and having a brilliant performance. The Birkirkara forward, who was voted as the BOV Player of the Month for the month of January, managed to finish her league commitments as the top scorer of the league for the second year running, on the twenty-goal mark, one over Maria Farrugia of Gozo.

The First Half

Birkirkara had an excellent start as they took the lead after an impressive ten seconds. In a quick attack built in style thanks to one-touch football, Raina Giusti showed great skill to hit home from a tight angle.

The Stripes continued to show superiority inside the opening minutes, but against the run of play, Kirkop United grabbed the equaliser in a controversial move. Jennifer Galea blocked a close-range effort and the she seemed to have made contact with the Kirkop player. While the Birkirkara goalkeeper was checking on the condition of the opponent, Kirkop took advantage of the situation. With the ball still in play, Rachel Caruana slotted the ball into an empty net.

Boosted by the equaliser, Kirkop were now showing better football. On the ninth minute, they were denied from taking the lead when off a shot from outside the box, the ball smashed against the foot of the post.

The Stripes were quick to reply, and they threatened to retake the lead. On the fifteenth minute, Raina Giusti made an excellent solo-run down the left flank, before delivering the ball to Mariah Sciberras inside the box, but the latter saw her close-range effort turned into a corner kick.

Three minutes later, Giusti was in action once again. After being served by Michela Felice, the Birkirkara forward hit a first-time effort, which ended wide by a matter of inches. On the twentieth minute, Felice served Mariah Sciberras on the run, who had a fine strike parried by Kirkop's goalkeeper.

The Second Half

Birkirkara regained the lead in just fifty seconds of the second half. Raina Giusti received a fine through ball, and she showed great skill to easily deposit the ball inside the net.

Birkirkara regained confidence and they were now all over their opponents. Kirkop made their first reaction just past the half-hour mark with a powerful shot which was saved by the Birkirkara goalkeeper, Jennifer Galea.

However, The Stripes built a two goal lead on the thirty-second minute. Raina Giusti raced forward and beat the Kirkop goalkeeper with a fine shot to complete her hat-trick

Mr. Johann Scicluna made two substitutions between the thirty-third and thirty-fifth minutes. First he replaced Alexia Galea with Alanis Cardona, and then Michela Felice with Samantha Zarb.

Birkirkara continued to show the best ideas and on the thirty-eight minute, Mariah Sciberras had a fine shot from distance ending over.

Ten minutes from the end, Mr. Johann Scicluna included Mariah Fenech off Mariah Sciberras. Four minutes later, goalkeeper Anthea Enriquez replaced Jennifer Galea and Abigail Borg replaced Naomi Mizzi.

With a two goal lead, the Stripes continued to hold strong and they won the match with a result of 3-1, to end their league commitments in the third place.

BIRKIRKARA: Jennifer Galea (44' Anthea Enriquez), Guilia Micallef, Alexia Galea (33' Alanis Cardona) , Raina Giusti, Michela Felice (35' Samantha Zarb), Naomi Mizzi (44' Abigail Borg), Mariah Sciberras (40' Maria Fenech).

KIRKOP UNITED: Yasmine Farrugia, Celine Galea, Angelica Tanti (36' Amy Zammit), Rachel Caruana (36' Laura Calleja), Emile Pace, Demi Magrin, Yasmine Ciantar.

Scorers: 1' Raina Giusti, 26' Raina Giusti, 32' Raina Giusti.

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