Redovan FF 0 CD Torrevieja 0 – By Steve Hibberd
Torry made the short trip to mid table Redovan, stuck firmly in the relegation zone some 3 points from safety. Caretaker manager Moncho was hoping to make it 3rd time lucky, although even a goal would be nice, following two matches where his strikers have failed to trouble the opposition.
Back in mid September, Torry scored a late winner at home to Redovan in only the 3rd game of the season, but subsequently they have only won 3 more matches, 2 of them wiped out by the Valencian FA for a breach of league rules.
Both Micro and Captain Guido were set to return to league action following served suspensions, but the latter has made a move to Tenerife, robbing the midfield of much needed quality. Omar has also left the club while Fran has moved to Novelda, and with a 10 match ban confirmed for Nico, following his aggressive attitude last week to match officials, Moncho is having to increasing rely on the youth team in order to supplement the Torry squad, a move, to date, that has shown the players promoted to a standard rather out of their depth.
With Manu Garrido making only his second start for Torry, and Aaron and Moi their debuts, there were concerns that this might prove to be the case once again, but at Redovan, whilst their quality at this level could be questioned their endeavour, their running and their work ethic was certainly not.
But during the opening exchanges there was little quality to see from either team. It was a scrappy affair and a full 18 minutes before we had anything resembling an attacking move, two in quick succession in fact, with Kike in the Redovan goal being called upon to make routine saves.
But early approval was soon watered down as the home side increasingly swamped their visitor’s goal. A good save by Cristo, following a shot by striker German, then saw skipper Tomy make a dramatic, goal line, interception as Balin was about to turn the ball into the net.
There was a short reprieve for the visitors, and a good opportunity for Moi, but a late flag from the assistant referee unfortunately denied the youngster a spectacular scoring debut.
Redovan turned up the heat approaching half time through German, who hit the post, and Guille, who’s header was cleared off the line, but all credit to the Torry youngsters who stuck to their task to see the game through to a goal less break.
If Torry followers then thought that the youngsters had ridden their luck during the first period their display in the second was nothing short of heroic as they soaked up wave after wave of Redovan pressure.
Striker German was excellent but even he couldn’t fashion an effort to beat the outstanding youngster Cristo in the Torry goal. One save in particular from German’s head in the 80th minute really was a match saver as the visitors came away with a well-earned point.
Well-earned most certainly but deserved probably not as Redovan hit the woodwork on at least 4 separate occasions, but the excellent form of Cristo and the wonderful efforts of the defence nevertheless shaped a point that could be all important as Torry head toward the business end of the season.
Even the controversy in added time, when the assistant referee deemed the ball had crossed the goal line just before German guided it into an empty net, didn’t detract from an industrious and energetic Torry performance that we will need to see far more of in the coming weeks if they are to climb out of the relegation situation they now find themselves in.
And the experience gained by the youngsters could also be all important when they face fellow relegation candidates Carrús-UD Ilicitana CF next week, in a Sunday lunchtime kick off at the Nelson Mandela Stadium. As always, however, do check the Torreveija website for confirmation of timings.
