VILLENA CF – 1 CD THADER – 3
By Steve Hibberd
Needing to finish in the top 8 to guarantee promotion to a newly formed Community league next season, Thader went within a whisker of achieving their objective.
On the final day of the season, the mathematics were clear – Thader to win and Santa Pola to lose.
Thader won handsomely, but unfortunately Santa Pola managed a 0-0 draw. So, although both sides finished on 47 points, Santa Pola’s superior goal difference, ensured they finished 8th.
All is not lost, for although Thader finished in 9th place, there is still an outside chance that they will be promoted, but they will need other teams to do them a favour (it’s complicated!).
Manager Adrian Pastor elected to field a strong starting eleven for this important match at La Solana stadium, Villena. Having lost 0-1 at Moi Gomez stadium at the start of the year, Thader had more than enough reasons to extract revenge.
And boy did they waste no time getting off the mark! One minute 27 seconds to be exact, was how long it took for Ruben to float an inch perfect free kick towards his captain Lloyd, who hit it perfectly on the half volley into the back of the net.
Less than a minute later, the lead was almost doubled. A training ground one two between Pedro Juan and Quino, resulted in the latter testing Villena keeper Izzi, who managed to parry his firm shot to safety. Having been unlucky with an assist, Pedro Juan went one better on 14 mins, when he scored a beauty.
Already, Javi had been giving the home defence a torrid time, so it was no surprise when he squared the ball to PJ, who from just inside the box, hammered it into the roof of the net. Fran picked up the game’s first booking on 24 mins, then from the resultant free kick, Chema did well to punch the ball clear off the head of Villena’s no 11, Benja.
Chema was certainly earning his keep, for within quick succession, he denied both Ojerove and Roy clear cut opportunities. A fifty-fifty ball between Pedro Juan and Nelson, resulted in the Villena player being shown a straight red card for a studs up high tackle, which required lengthy treatment for Thader’s PJ.
Down to 10 men, Villena were getting frustrated, none more so than their manager, who was booked for dissent, and if truth be known, was extremely lucky that it wasn’t added to.
Rosquin went close to adding a 3rd goal, but his swerving shot agonisingly missed the target.
On as sub, Tomas received a long ball from defence, before rounding Chema to score from an accute angle for the hosts. It looked way offside, but from the stands, who am I to judge?
Indubitably, man of the match was PJ, and it was he on 52 mins who helped restore Thader’s 2 goal advantage. A delightful cross from the right fell nicely for Rosquin, who had a relatively easy chance of side footing home into an empty net. PJ could easily have made it 4 or even 5 goals to the good, but on 57 then on 65 mins, his efforts were just off target.
Youth team players Holmar, Vadim and Felix, were all introduced late in the game, and it was Holmar who produced a superb cross which enabled PJ to head over the bar.
Although that’s it for league matches, there is a match at Moi Gomez stadium on Sat 3 Jun, ko 7pm, to celebrate Thader’s centenary year, when admission will be free. Also, on Fri 14 Jul, CD Thader will be holding a presentation evening at Restaurante Casa Antonio.
