It has been a busy week in the transfer market, as Torry look to shake up a lacklustre side that has slumped to mid table in the Preferente division. Out have gone Mario, Calderon and Juanpe, whilst 3 new players have joined the club.
A big Torry welcome to Ecuadorian midfielder Josu from Xativa Olympic, central defender Samuel from Madrid Preferente side Ciempozuelos, and goalkeeper Chus, who makes the short trip from Bigastro.
A vast improvement from the hugely disappointing home defeat to Pinoso was required, if Pedreño’s men were to take anything from the trip to Callosa and while the scoreline might suggest a close contest the home side were streets ahead of their visitors and could have been out of sight by half time.
Back in October, Torry comprehensively beat lowly Callosa to go 2nd in the league, but a poor run of form has seen them slip to a point behind their hosts. New Torry owners were muted to have completed a takeover during week, but if they did, the club PR machine has yet to confirm such news.
With the return of Vicente after suspension, and the inclusion of new signings Samuel and Josu, the band of Torry followers who had travelled to Callosa were hopeful of a better performance than they have seen of late but it soon became evident that there is still a long way to go for the Salineros.
Callosa were on the front foot from the start with early chances for the hosts, including a Molina effort that shaved Vidal’s post in the opening minute. We hoped that the visitors were just settling in but as the game progressed there was no improvement from Torry. Passes were going astray, there was little movement off the ball and all the football was coming from the home side.
Molina broke the deadlock on 20 minutes when, following a well worked move, he slid the ball under the advancing Vidal to put the hosts in front. Callosa were well on top and with the lions share of possession they could have extended their lead had Regueras and Salva not wasted efforts midway through the half.
It was fully 35 minutes before we saw any threat at all from the visitors with Zaragoza heading over a Santi cross. Moments later the same player had a second effort, but he could only drag his free kick wide of Callosa’s goal.
With half time approaching we thought there might be a glimmer for the visitors but a defensive mix up allowed Salva to slide the ball home from close range to extend Callosa’s lead.
The team talk had little effect on the visitors as the home side continued to dominate. Vastly improved from the previous meeting between the two sides Callosa were pulling all the strings with Molina hitting the side netting prior to Vidal pulling off excellent saves from Salva and Regueras.
In between times there was a rare opportunity for Zaragoza but on 70 minutes the home side sealed the points when Manresa tapped in from close range.
And then, as I sat and pondered another headline reporting a lacklustre Torry display, two unlikely goals in as many minutes from Samu almost turned the game on its head.
After Silva was tripped in the area Samu calmly sent Tur the wrong way in the 86th minute for what we though was a consolation but just 60 seconds later the same player netted from close range as he connected with a Silva cross.
But unfortunately, despite the dramatic finale, it was very much a case of too little too late with the final 3-2 scoreline flattering a Torry team that were dominated for long periods of the game, a performance that was simply not good enough on the day.
So it’s back to the drawing board for Pedreño who will no doubt be delighted that the team now have a free week prior to their next home game against Redován on Sunday 26 March.
