Sliema and Birkirkara were first round winners Malta’s 2013 MRL Dove Men+Care Championship kicked off last Wednesday night at Pembroke’s Melita FC.

The two clubs will meet tonight (Wed 12 June) for the Dove Men+Care Cup, for the last team standing, but both clubs will also be keenly hoping for the two points to propel them to outright leaders ahead of next week’s third round before the competition breaks for summer.

Sliema, unbeaten in both codes on the local rugby scene for over twelve months, completed a second half overhaul of their Malta Origin RL counterparts for a 44-16 win.

Malta Origin’s Sydney A Grade recruit David Farrugia collected a 14 point haul while 36 year old Michael George was ever impressive at halfback. Farrugia, the former Mascot Jet, dived over for two tries from dummy half and converted two goals for a strong all-round effort.

But simple rugby was the aim of the evening for the defending premiers and the result was Sliema kicking away in the second half on the back of some good go forward by the likes of Cerketa, Meintjes, Zammit and Schranz.

In the earlier match, Birkirkara opened their rugby league account with a 50-20 victory over Gozo RL.Birkirkara welcomed Malta international Dylan Frendo who returned to the club from Australia, but it was skipper Christian Briffa who stole the show for the newcomers.

The leaner Briffa crossed for three tries, a show and go towards the end of the match was the pick of his tries which he added to with another three conversions. For Gozo, Mario Mercieca was a standout and crossed for a try as did the Gozitans’ trio of Malta internationals in Hili, Hussain and Debattista.

Birkirkara captain Briffa chose to praise his team despite his 18 point tally, commenting “Our first experience in league started off better than expected. The coaching staff is well happy with the commitment and the performance of tonight”

“A strong group of 17 players shows commitment to the different rugby codes we play. Hopefully we’ll have more good games in the future. And well played to Gozo for being fair and sport”

Briffa’s Birkirkara now prepare for a solid test against Sliema tonight, Sliema skipper Malcolm Attard holding back no punches when asked about his squad ahead of the Cup decider that doubles as a round two fixture of the local championship. Attard commented on Monday, “The team (Sliema) will be fielded purely according to the availability of players and all are up for contention. Which means we could have one week with a mix of relatively inexperienced players and it is a great opportunity for them to experience the game and become more comfortable with ball in hand and grow within the team at the same time”

Attard added, “Another week we could be loaded with internationals (Sliema RL had four players in the Malta national team last season) in which case we would expect to blow any and all out of the water”

Birkirkara RL duo Beppe Sammut and Jeremy Dela were both exonerated by the MRL match review panel for their part in dangerous tackles last week but the MRL took the announcement as an opportunity to warn clubs that unlawful tackles, incorrect play the ball and offensive language will not be tolerated and will be scrutinized heavily over the remainder of the 2013 MRL Dove Men+Care Championship.

Lastly in Malta, the MRL will this Friday night hold a charity rugby league match as the launch to the MRL’s Pink Week (Sunday 16 June to Saturday 22 June) to promote breast cancer awareness.Round three of the MRL Championship will see captains and match officials wear pink arm bands while a week long pink campaign will be played out over the MRL's official website and social media.

The charity match will see a Malta invitational team take on the ‘Make a Pink Difference’ team led by Malta international Shan Francois Hussain and his group who will climb Mont Blanc in France later this year to raise awareness especially among youth. The ‘Make a Pink Difference’ team are also welcoming Patrick Cooke, a reporter from the Times of Malta, into their team, the Widnes born and bred journalist hasn’t laced on a boot since he relocated to Malta but jumped at the invitation to be involved.

Tonight's Birkirkara v Sliema clash also will feature Gertrude Abela, president of Europa Donna Malta for breast cancer awareness, who will make a special guest kick off to unofficially kick off Pink Week proceedings.

2013 MRL Dove Men+Care Championship Round 1 Results
 Sliema RL 44 (D.Cerketa 2, G.Zammit 2, J.Caruana, O.Jones, M.Attard, E.Willis, M.Spiteri tries; C.Schranz 3/3, R.Meintjes 1/2, M.Attard 0/3, O.Jones 0/1 goals)  defeated
Malta Origin RL 16 (D.Farrugia 2, M.George tries; D.Farrugia 2/3 goals)

H-T: Sliema RL 16-10Players of the Match: Dragan Cerketa (Sliema) and Jean Pierre Zarb (Malta Origin)

Birkirkara RL 50 (C.Briffa 3, T.Freeman 2, B.Borg, B.Orica, G.Mupimhidza, B.Sammut, J.Dela tries; C.Briffa 3/5, D.Frendo 2/3, L.Xuereb 0/2 goals)) defeated Gozo RL 20 (M.Mercieca, S.F.Hussain, C.Debattista, G.Hili tries; G.Hili 2/4 goals)

H-T: Birkirkara RL 28-6Players of the Match: Mario Mercieca (Gozo) and Christian Briffa (Birkirkara)

2013 MRL Dove Men+Care Championship Standings (after round 1)
Birkirkara RL - 2pts, 1 win, +30
Sliema RL - 2pts, 1 win, +28
Malta Origin RL - 0pts, 1 loss, -28
Gozo RL - 0pts, 1 loss, -30

MRL Dove Men+Care Championship Round 2 Fixtures, Wednesday 12 June 2013

7:15pm - Malta Origin RL v Gozo RL
8:45pm - Sliema RL v Birkirkara RL