Birkirkara Women's Team back to winning ways

by Ayrton Galea - 13th February 2013

In a match characterised by heavy rain which made it almost impossible to play, Birkirkara gave a fine performance and got back to winning ways by beating Gozo 2-0.

After sharing the spoils with Mosta and Hibernians with scores of 1-1 and 2-2 respectively, Birkirkara needed no less than three points to get back on track for the title challenge, having fallen five points behind Mosta.

With continuous rain hitting the Maltese islands, the match turned to be a very difficult one as both sets of players found it hard to adapt their game, with most of the time the tempo being reduced due to flooding in the pitch.

However, the Stripes had a good performance, and it was a well deserved win. The changes in the team since the last outings seemed to work perfectly. Stephania Farrugia and Kim Parnis traded their places from their last matches, as Stephania began as a central defender while Kim was moved in the midfield position. Gabriella Zahra also returned to her usual midfield position. Birkirkara were superior to their opponents, credit to winning the battle in the midfield.

Another positive point was that veteran goalkeeper Nina Dimech registered her third clean sheet in the Women's league this season.

The First Half

Despite the heavy rain, Birkirkara started strongly going close with a header off a corner by Rachel Cuschieri after just one minute which was cleared off the line by a defender.

Kim Parnis had a fine shot turned into a corner kick after nine minutes, and then Isabelle Mazzitelli had a fine diagonal shot saved by the goalkeeper on the 16th minute.

Birkirkara surged ahead on the twenty minutes when Rachel Cuschieri advanced, rounded a defender before hitting hard past goalkeeper Maryann Mumford.

Just two minutes later, the Stripes almost doubled the lead. Kelly Agius Pace advanced with the ball but her shot was blocked by Mumford, off the rebound, Martina Cilia's effort was cleared by a defender.

On the 33rd minute, Kelly Agius Pace had a cross shot from the right ending over. Ten minutes later, Kim Parnis had a header saved by the goalkeeper.

The first half ended with Birkirkara having a narrow 1-0 lead.

The Second Half

Seven minutes into the second half, Agius Pace had a shot turned into a corner kick. From the resulting corner kick, Kim Parnis headed wide while one minute later the same player had a shot saved by the goalkeeper.

On the 54th minute, Rachel Cuschieri had a long distance freekick which surprised the goalkeeper, but it scratched past the crossbar.

Birkirkara made them two and put their mind at rest on the 57th minute when off a perfect corner by Rachel Cuschieri, Kim Parnis rose high to beat goalkeeper Mumford, probably helped by a slight deflection.

In the first substitution for Birkirkara on the 63 minutes, Raina Giusti replaced Rachel Cuschieri.

On the 67th minute, Isabelle Mazzitelli sent a perfect through pass in direction of Kelly Agius Pace but goalkeeper Mumford came out on time to anticipate the ball and save the danger. Ten minutes later, Kim Parnis had a header ending wide off a Raina's corner.

On the 78th minute, Simone Buttigieg replaced Martina Cilia in Birkirkara's second substitution.

Kelly Agius Pace should have made them three on the 83 minutes. Following a fine pass, the National forward advanced and rounded the goalkeeper but her attempt hit the post, off the rebound, her shot ended over.

Kelly Groves replaced Alishia Sultana in the final five minutes for the Stripes' third change of the game.

The referee's full time whistle found Birkirkara back on track for the title challenge, and looking forward with hope.

BIRKIRKARA: Nina Dimech, Yasmeen Vella, Maryrose Cardona, Stephania Farrugia, Kelly Agius Pace, Rachel Cuschieri (63' Raina Giusti), Alishia Sultana (85' Kelly Groves), Kim Parnis, Gabriella Zahra, Martina Cilia (78' Simone Buttigieg), Isabelle Mazzitelli.

GOZO: Maryann Mumford, Michelle Zuber, Ann-Marie Said, Michelle Pace, Rita Azzopardi, Felicienne Mercieca, Melania Bajada, Moddyann Refiaw, Julia Vella, Emma Xuereb, Tracy Theuma.

Scorers: 20' Rachel Cuschieri, 57' Kim Parnis

Yellow Cards: 79' Kim Parnis.

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