Birkirkara meet Mtarfa, Swieqi face Raiders in women’s league

Match Day 5 of the MFA Women’s Leagues takes centre stage this week with leaders Birkirkara and fellow title challengers Swieqi United set to face Mtarfa and Raiders Lija respectively.

Mġarr United, who are sharing top spot with the Stripes, will be serving a bye this week before facing Swieqi in next week’s highlight clash.

Birkirkara are at the back of a 0-0 draw with Mġarr United which saw both teams halt their perfect start after four league meetings.

The Stripes and the Greens remained joint-leaders with 10 points after last week’s stalemate.

The Stripes, led by coach Melania Bajada, will be striving to bounce back to winning ways when they face Mtarfa on Wednesday.

Together with Mġarr and Swieqi, they boast the best defensive record as they are yet to concede a goal whereas they have the second best attacking record with 14 goals.

Alishia Sultana, who is part of the Malta women’s national team, is the club’s top scorer so far with three goals. 

Mtarfa, on their part, collected their first point of the season after their goalless draw against San Ġwann.

They are coached by Simon Spiteri who took over from last season’s coach Shawn Meilak.

Their squad includes several players with senior league experience including goalkeeper Dorienne Grech, captain Lorna Cassar and former Hibernians Brooke Zarb. 

Swieqi will head into action 24 hours before when they take on Raiders Lija on Tuesday.

The Oranges profited from last week’s draw in the top of the table clash between Birkirkara and Mġarr as their victory over Kirkop United helped them reduce the gap to just one point, while with a game in hand as they sit third.

Coached by Nenad Tomic, Swieqi have already scored 24 goals with midfielder Dorianne Theuma (5 goals) and forward Kelly Agius Pace (4 goals) contributing with 9 goals in total. 

On the other hand, Raiders Lija sit fourth in the seven-team league with three points after their victory over Mtarfa in the opening day of the season.

Leah Alice Ayres, Miriana Conti, Maya Lucia, Michela Bonello Ghio and Rebecca Vella were on the scoresheet in that game.

Kirkop United and San Ġwann will be taking on each other in the other game of the week, with the Reds eyeing their first points of the season after falling in their opening three league games.

In all fairness though, Kirkop were drawn with title rivals Birkirkara, Mġarr and Swieqi in their opening three fixtures and therefore it was always going to be difficult for Jochen Lenders’ side to score points in those games. 

Meanwhile, San Ġwann will be looking to resume where they left off last week when they recorded a historic point in their debut season at senior level after drawing with Mtarfa.

Coached by Jean Paul Attard, San Ġwann’s squad is composed by several promising players including Rhea Borg and Yulya Carella who were part of the U-19’s national team during the recent European qualifications.

During last week’s game with Mtarfa, Sarah Cioffi was handed her debut after joining the club from Kirkop. 

THIS WEEK’S FIXTURES 

TUESDAY – 20.30
Raiders Lija vs Swieqi United, Centenary Stadium
Kirkop United vs San Ġwann, Mġarr Ground

WEDNESDAY – 20.30
Mtarfa vs Birkirkara, Centenary Stadium

MD5 bye: Mġarr United.

Photo: Maraya Gauci Photography/Swieqi United.