To say that Torrevieja are not having a good season would be somewhat of an understatement. Following relegation at the end of the last campaign confidence was high in September that Pedreño could build a squad capable of bouncing straight back, but following a run that has seen them pick up just 8 points since the turn of the year the manager has finally decided to wield the axe with some vigour, as he has cleared out 11 players in the last 2 or 3 weeks.
The Torrevieja boss has questioned the desire to play by many of his former players saying “In a team of 11 if you must have a minimum of six or seven players who are playing with responsibility and so far I have not been happy with many of the performances.”
For the fixture at home to mid table Redovan, Torry were without the services of Vicente and Walid, both unavailable because of suspension, so the senior line up had, once again, to be supplemented with recruits from the junior side. What we didn’t know, however, was that the offer to provide those players was withdrawn shortly before the match.
As a result Torrevieja started the game with just 10 men, with Eneko, who normally plays in goal, wearing the number 9 shirt. Off the field the only occupant of the Torry dug out was Pedreño, everybody else having seemingly deserted what appears to be a sinking ship and with none of the Directors prepared to make a statement we might all begin to fear for the future of this once extremely proud club.
During a brief exchange with the manager prior to the start he was clearly very upset at the situation, but seemingly unable to do anything about it.
Nevertheless the 10 men got the game underway with, unsurprisingly, the visitors applying all the early pressure. Jesus made a good stop in the opening minute while Redovan’s Joaquin blasted over moments later.
On 15 minutes Nacho, who looked to be in an offside position, opened the scoring for the visitors from close range. Two minutes later we all thought that Josu had pulled it back, only to see his goal chalked off for a rather dubious foul.
Redovan were two ahead on 18 minutes when Aleo slid home an effort that came back to him off the bar and then, what little chance that Torry might have had all disappeared in the space of 5 minutes. First it was Booker who had to leave the field through injury, only to be followed moments later by Ramiro, so Torry were now reduced to 8 men.
To cap a miserable opening period for the home side the visitors extended their lead to 3-0 just prior to the half time interval.
With staff and supporters all checking the laws of the game to confirm the minimum number of players Torry were reduced to that figure, just 7, when Eneko came off after 52 minutes. Prior to that, and during the remainder of the game, a further 8 minutes, Torry were actually bossing the play, despite their inferior numbers.
On the hour mark, however, a tackle on Josue saw him become the 4th Torry player to fall to injury reducing the team to six, at which point the referee abandoned the game with the visitors leading by 3-0.
It might seem rather cynical but many of the 150 people who were watching the game felt that both Eneko and Josue had fabricated their injuries when it became clear that the game was going nowhere but whatever their situation the abandonment will now be referred to the Valencia Football Federation for their deliberation, one of the possibilities being a reduction in points.
But quite where Torry go from here is anybody’s guess, with Club Director Graham Knight insisting that Vicente is still Club President, while Jeff Scott is also said to remain on the Board.
But whoever is in charge and whatever the reasons, the football club is in pieces, an absolute shambles, as collectively the gang behind the stand, whoever they might be, have completely ruined a once proud, and traditional football club. At this point there seems to be no way back for Torry, and with the contempt that they are clearly showing toward their loyal fans it begs he question, do they really deserve one?
