Birkirkara women eye win as quest for title enters final stage

The second Matchday of the third and final round of the MFA Women’s League will see the top two teams of the championship take centre stage as the title race enters its final stage.

Leaders Birkirkara have a six-point cushion above second-place Mġarr, with five games left as the Stripes are eyeing their 10^th domestic title.

Melania Bajada’s Birkirkara will play on Wednesday when they cross swords with Kirkop United, at the Centenary Stadium.

The Stripes are at the back of a big win after hitting San Ġwann for eight, last week. Canadian forward Patricia Lamanna returned to scoring ways after grabbing a brace to make it five goals in three games since joining the club in January.

Meanwhile, club’s top scorer Alishia Sultana has now joined Mġarr’s Francesca Chircop at the summit of the league’s scoring charts with 13 goals thanks to her hat-trick against San Ġwann.

On the other hand, Kirkop’s positive run was halted by Mġarr after losing 3-1 in last week’s league fixture.

The Reds had picked up nine points prior to last week with three straight wins as they chalked up 15 points 13 games. They are the only team who have not recorded a single draw in this campaign.

Second-place Mġarr will be in action on Tuesday when they take on Raiders Lija at the Mġarr Ground. A delicate encounter for the Greens who will be looking to remain in Birkirkara’s tails.

Abigail Camilleri, Jasmine Vella Turner and Rebecca Bajada were Mġarr’s scorers in last week’s 3-1 win against Kirkop.

Raiders, on their part, breezed past Mtarfa 7-0 to make amends for their narrow defeat at the hands of Kirkop the previous week.

Denis Guerra’s side sit fourth on 22 points as they are embroiled in an interesting duel with Swieqi for the third place.

Meanwhile Swieqi will face Mtarfa on Tuesday, at the Centenary Stadium.

The Oranges have 22 points after 12 games with their latest match being their 1-0 defeat against Birkirkara before last week’s MD15 bye.

On the other side, Mtarfa are second-bottom with four points after 13 games played.

U-20’s title set for decider

The MFA U-20’s women’s championship winner will be determined via a decider after Raiders Lija joined leaders Birkirkara at the top of the standings on the final day of the season, last weekend.

Leading with 39 points, three ahead of Raiders, Birkirkara needed just a point to secure the title against third-place Swieqi United.

However, the Oranges spoiled Birkirkara’s plans as a Jessica Dimech hat-trick propelled Swieqi to a 3-1 victory. Sara Saliba scored the consolation goal for the Stripes.

Raiders capitalised on Birkirkara’s defeat with a 4-0 routine win against San Ġwann with goals from Sabrin Blihi, Nell Zarb Cousin and a Leah Ayres brace.

The date and venue of this title decider will be announced in the coming days.

THIS WEEK’S FIXTURES

TUESDAY – 20.30

Raiders Lija vs Mġarr United, Mġarr Ground

Swieqi United vs Mtarfa, Centenary Stadium – 20.45

WEDNESDAY – 20.30

Kirkop United vs Birkirkara, Centenary Stadium

MD16 bye: San Ġwann.

Photo c/o Tonio Magro.