Veteran player Dorianne Theuma continued to reach more milestones in her decorating career after netting her 400th goal in domestic competitions.
Theuma, who is once again featuring for Swieqi United this season, proved to be The Owls’ hero in their league opener against defending champions Birkirkara.
A trademark long-range shot was enough to beat Birkirkara’s goalkeeper Janice Xuereb and earn Swieqi a hard-fought 1-1 draw on her 418th game at club level in Maltese football.
Last year, Theuma was instrumental in helping her side make amends for their poor start and finish second place.
“When I made my debut, I never imagined I could reach such a milestone,” Theuma told the Times of Malta.
“I still have vivid memories about my first goal… I was only 13 years old and I was wearing the Hibernians’ colours.
“Scoring was never my priority, especially since I used to play anywhere on the field and at some point, I also featured as a defender.”
Asked about what this 400th goal means to her, Theuma pointed out that this means that she celebrated with her teammates on 400 occasions and everytime it was a special moment for her.
“I would like to send my appreciation towards every teammate I played with because without their contribution, this milestone would not have been possible.”
This season, Swieqi are determined to mountain up more pressure on Birkirkara and be serious contenders for the Maltese championship.
After playing their only game of the season against Birkirkara, just a little under a month ago, Dutch Judith Kuipers had plenty of time to get the players on board with her technical project and help the newcomers gel with the core of this team.
Against Birkirkara, Swieqi had four new faces in their side including three foreigners – Ghana pair Cynthia Konland and Rebecca Atinga, and American winger Tatiana Dabney together with Maltese midfielder Jasmine Vella Turner.
In this week’s game, they will face bottom side Mtarfa who have lost in their opening two outings of the season.
Led by coach Simon Spiteri, Mtarfa were defeated by Hibernians (0-7) and Raiders Lija (0-4).
Meanwhile, league leaders Hibernians will take on Mġarr United in the highlight game of the week.
Hibernians, who made their return to the senior women’s league, launched their campaign with comfortable victories over San Ġwann (7-0) and Mtarfa (7-0).
Rodianne Zerafa and Aleksandra Georgieva scored three goals each in these two games as they lead the club’s scoring sheets.
Mġarr United’s Yulya Carella has also scored three goals as club captain Brenda Borg leads the league’s scoring charts with four.
The Greens beat San Ġwann 7-0 in their season opener but fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat to rivals Birkirkara in Matchday 2.
San Ġwann, on their part, will face Raiders Lija in the other game of this week’s fixtures.
Two consecutive defeats to Mġarr and Hibernians see San Ġwann still looking for their first points of the season.
On the other hand, Raiders scored their first three points of the season after beating Mtarfa 4-0 on their debut game of the 2022/2023 campaign.
THIS WEEK’S FIXTURES
TUESDAY
San Ġwann vs Raiders Lija, Centenary Stadium – 20.30
WEDNESDAY
Mtarfa vs Swieqi United, Centenary Stadium – 20.30
Mġarr United vs Hibernians, Mġarr Ground – 20.30
MD3 bye: Birkirkara.
Photo: Jeffrick Cachia/Swieqi United FC.
