Match of the week: Hibernians vs Raiders Luxol.

Gianluca Lia From the heart-breaking elimination of our Women’s National in the UEFA Women’s Euro Preliminary round back to the domestic league where leaders Hibernians will aim to resume their winning streak against Raiders Luxol. 3rd place hopefuls Raiders Luxol though, will try to make life difficult for the current champions as they are in search for points due to their 3rd place battle alongside Mgarr United.   Having won both previous encounters, Hibernians would be expected to win also their 3rd fixture against Raiders Luxol but recently the latter were on a high both in performance and results. They won their last 2 matches, the first one being a 2-4 thriller against Mgarr United followed by a 5-1 win over Championship strugglers Pembroke Athleta. Before those couple of wins, Raiders Luxol were also on the verge of earning a 0-0 draw against title challengers Birkirkara but an 85th minute goal sunk them towards their 4th defeat of the season. On the other hand, Hibernians were on an impressive streak with 12 consecutive wins before managing to earn only a point in the big match against rivals Birkirkara. They returned to winning ways with a 1-3 win over Mgarr United before the international break. The Paolites may not need to beat Birkirkara in their last match as they need 3 wins from their next 4 matches to retain the title since they are maintaining a 3 point advantage, hoping to start this countdown in their tough match against Raiders Luxol.    From Hibernians:Asked about how he coped during preparation without a number of players due to national duty, coach Keith Gouder said that he turned this situation into a favourable one by calling up many U16 players to train with the rest of the Senior team, therefore apart from preparing themselves ahead of their U16 fixtures, they were experiencing training sessions with the Senior squad. Regarding the tough fixture against Raiders Luxol, coach Keith emphasized on the fact that any opponent which his girls face always give that extra effort since they are the current champions and the leaders and therefore he expects a tough match. In addition to this, he eased the pressure off from his players by saying that many of his girls are national team players therefore they are used to play matches which require a different mental approach. From Raiders Luxol:Prior to this tough encounter, coach Jose Borg said that the international break which was long for around 6 weeks will have an impact on this match as both teams, especially Hibernians had some of their players out with the national team. Having these key players absent in the preparations towards this type of game does not help a lot but on the other hand he is sure that the players are mentally prepared for this match. As usual in these matches, Raiders Luxol will be cautious and will try close down as much as possible Hibernians’ offensive line but they will be also ready to accelerate on counter-attacks which is one of their most potential strengths.  Asked about what is needed in his team in order to have the ability to compete alongside Hibernians and Birkirkara for the title, coach Jose highlighted the fact that his team managed to earn respect even from both Hibernians and Birkirkara and secondly he is satisfied that they reached all targets having also the possibility to reach the knock-out final. In the upcoming season he will add to his work and will hope that his team can make that leap of quality which can let the Raiders’ players aspire for the title.