NOVELDA CF – 1 CD TORREVIEJA 0 (By Steve Hibberd)
Torry went into this important div 3 fixture against play off seeking Novelda, lying second from bottom, in what is proving to be a difficult season (to say the least!). With the transfer window now well and truly shut, team coach Pedreno has made his last throw of the dice, as a number of players have come and gone, but unfortunately the end result appears to be the same.
Points have to be put on the board, but the million dollar question is where are they going to come from? With a home match at Nelson Mendela, ko 5pm, next Sunday against high flying Ontinyent in store, the stark reality is that relegation to the Preferente division now seems more probable than possible.
Pedreno´s men started brightly, but Novelda carved out a goal scoring opportunity on 16 mins. From a corner, the ball was worked to Toni whose shot flew narrowly wide. Moments later from another corner, Carlao headed just over, before Torry forged a rare strike on goal with a Vicente near miss.
As per normal, keeper Buba came to his sides rescue on 34 mins denying Benja, then 5 mins later he could only watch as the same player just missed the target. The dangerous Benja forced another fine save from Buba shortly before half time, before proceedings were brought to a halt with surprisingly both goals still intact.
Novelda made their intentions quite clear as both Benja then Pucelano went close to opening their account, before on the hour mark, a Zapata scorcher was punched to safety by the over worked Buba. Zapata wasn´t to be denied though, for on 78 mins from a corner, he was on hand to blast the ball past a helpless Buba. Even though Nica, Joel and Borja were brought on by Pedreno, the hosts were just too good for a Torry side that need more time to find their feet, but unfortunately time is rapidly running out.
