Women's Team keep top spot

by Ayrton Galea - 9th November 2016

Birkirkara FC Women's Team kept their sole leadership in the BOV Women's First Division League on Wednesday evening, when second-half goals by Alishia Sultana and Stephania Farrugia gave them a 2-0 victory over Mgarr United FC.

A wonderful goal by Alishia Sultana and an inch-perfect header by Stephania Farrugia kept the Stripes marching on top of the table as they started the second-round commitments with a fine deserved victory. Thanks to this victory, the Stripes have now defeated all opponents after they had dropped the only two points so far in a goal-less draw against Mgarr.

Coach Shawn Meilak kept faith in last week's first-eleven selection bar the expectation of goalkeeper Janice Xuereb who returned between the posts and replaced Nina Dimech. Isabelle Mazzitelli was back in the fray but Simone Buttigieg was missing.

The First Half

The Stripes survived an early scare when a shot from the right ended wide on the sixteenth minute, but they made an excellent reaction two minutes later. Kelly Agius Pace made fine movement outside the box before serving Tracy Teuma, who with her back at the post hit a fantastic strike which scratched past the far post.

Mid-way through the first-half, Tracy Teuma's direct free-kick was easily saved by goalkeeper Rachel Borg while moments later, the Mgarr goalkeeper seemed to have floored forward Agius Pace but the referee turned down Birkirkara's protests for a penalty.

In the last action of the first-half, Agius Pace dashed inside the box dribbling past two opponents and had her shot blocked. From the rebound, Kim Parnis shot wide as the first-half ended goal-less.

The Second Half

Birkirkara looked sharper in the second half as they pushed forward and applied more pressure on the Mgarr United defence. Their improvement led to a wonderful opening goal on the hour mark.

It was a pleasant build-up from the back which then saw Tracy Teuma and Gabriella Zahra exchanging possession before the latter sent a precise through-ball to Alishia Sultana who hit a wonderful strike from a diagonal angle. This was the first goal for Sultana this season, a reward for her recent fine performances.

Boosted by the opening goal, the Stripes took five minutes to double their lead. The Stripes' impressive skills in set-pieces throughout this season were evident yet again. Raina Giusti delivered an accurate first-post corner that saw Captain Stephania Farrugia rising high to hit an inch-perfect header at the back of the net to score her fourth goal in the last three matches.

The Stripes were unlucky to add further gloss on the victory six minutes from time when Tracy Teuma produced a fine solo action that saw her dribbling past her marker and race forward but her shot was denied by an excellent save of goalkeeper Borg.

The referee's full-time whistle found the Stripes chalking-up their fifth consecutive victory and the sixth straight clean-sheet in the league. The Stripes are the only team who haven't conceded a goal after six matches.

BIRKIRKARA: Janice Xuereb, Yasmeen Vella, Ann-Marie Said, Stephania Farrugia, Mariah Sciberras (63' Sonia Schembri), Gabriella Zahra (84' Cassie Camilleri), Kim Parnis, Tracy Teuma, Raina Giusti (78' Sarah Urpani), Alishia Sultana, Kelly Agius Pace (78' Isabelle Mazzitelli).

Yellow Cards: None.

Scorers: 60' Alishia Sultana, 65' Stephania Farrugia.

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