Leaders Birkirkara face Mgarr in second round opener

Birkirkara will be looking to at least maintain their seven‐point lead at the top of the Assikura Women’s League when the Top Four phase second round starts this weekend.

The Stripes extended their gap in first place after beating Hiber‐ nians while second‐place Swieqi United slipped to a defeat at the hands of Mġarr United, last week‐ end.

The Greens will be Birkirkara’s opponents this Friday with Patrick Curmi’s team at the back of a fine 3‐2 win over the Owls, their first in this Top Four phase.

Birkirkara, on their part, cruised to a 3‐0 win over Hiber‐ nians with long‐serving players Stephania Farrugia and Alishia Sultana grabbing two of those goals.

Led by Jose Borg, who will take over at Birkirkara men’s team until the end of the season as well, the Stripes have scored 14 wins in 17 league outings as they are in the driving seat to hoist the championship trophy once again.

For Mġarr, last week’s win helped cut the gap from third‐ place Hibernians to six points as they look to find their best form and finish the season strongly.

Yulya Carella scored two of Mġarr’s goals against Swieqi while Fernanda Peinado scored the other goal with the Brazilian now sitting third in the league’s scoring charts with 16.

The other Top Four phase game will pit Hibernians and Swieqi United in Saturday’s early clash.

Two points separate the two teams with Swieqi sitting second on 37 points while Hibernians showing 35 for their efforts.

Both teams are at the back of disappointing defeats and they will be eyeing this game as the perfect sliding doors to bounce back.

In three league outings so far, both teams clinched a victory each while the second round head‐to‐head had ended in a goalless stalemate.