Indep CF Alicante 3 CD Torrevieja 1 (By Steve Hibberd)
Torry entered the match at San Vicente Sports Centre against Independent Alicante, the former Segunda side Alicante CF, fresh on the back of 3 consecutive defeats, the most recent of which was the rearranged fixture away at Intercity San Juan, last Wednesday evening. Although they created good chances, the Salineros once again struggled to put the ball in the net, whilst conceding 4 at the other end.
This defeat left Torry languishing down in second to bottom place, whereas Independent are riding high up there in 3rd position, albeit, prior to Wednesdays 1-0 success against Villena, with five consecutive draws.
For CD Torrevieja Argentinian Tomy Martinez has arrived to bolster the defence, but still no sign of the promised, and desperately needed, goal scorer. Tomy went straight into the side at No 4 while Revi replaced the disappointing Omar up front.
The game itself was certainly an eventful affair with the visitors reduced to 10 midway through the opening period after Juanmi was dismissed for an off the ball incident. Up to that stage there had been little difference in the two sides with both creating decent chances.
For the remainder of the half Juanpe was the busier of the two keepers saving well from the effervescent Conesa when he was through on goal.
As the half came to a close we all thought that parity was about to be restored after a foul on Revi but when the referee pulled out a yellow for Borja’s x-rated challenge it seemed as though the balance was shifting even more toward the home side.
As the 2nd period got underway it was the Alicante debutante Dani who was making all the running for Alicante CF bringing two fine saves from Juanpe in the opening minutes. Indeed all the pressure was coming from the home side with Torry unable to get out of their own half.
Toti headed over while Adris went close on two occasions before a Conesa shot rebounded off the crossbar to the feet of striker Abdul who won’t score an easier goal all season.
However, as so often happens in football, no sooner had Alicante gone in front than the scores were once again level, very much, however, against the run of play when Revi volleyed home following a rare Torry attack.
As the game entered it’s final minutes Sergi brought off another fine save from Juanpe but the spinning ball was deflected into the path of Dani who turned it over the line from close range to restore the Alicante lead.
Moments later the score was 3-1 to the home side after Ruben Conesa ran the length of the field to fire home past the unlucky Juanpe, but for whom the margin of the Torry defeat would have been much wider.
Then, with the final act of the game, another off the ball incident saw the referee dismiss Torry defender Iñaki, a completely unnecessary foul which will mean a 3 match suspension. With Juanmi also suffering a similar fate this will mean the loss of two key players at a time when the club’s survival really is in the balance.
So next weekend’s game against Villena really is a game that Torry can’t afford to lose. Any result other than a Torrevieja win doesn’t even bear thinking about.
