LANZAROTE 0 SD TENISCA 0
LANZAROTE 0 SD TENISCA 0
14th September 2013
The Rojillos (The Reds) draw for the first time this season in a goalless yet entertaining match in typical September hot weather with temperatures touching 30 degrees.
This match had been brought forward a day to Saturday because of the island celebrating its largest Fiesta of the year where around a third of the population of the island walk to Mancha Blanca to thank “Los Dolores” (Our lady of sorrows) for diverting the lava flow saving the fertile land during the volcanic eruptions.
The La Palma side are a well organised unit and are always competing for the play off positions come the end of the season. So far in this campaign they are still in search of their first win with three draws and a defeat.
Both sides began the match committed and in search of the opening goal. Dominating midfield was the Lanzarote captain Jotha. After playing for Real Madrid in the days of Beckham, Zidane and Figo etc, the locally born player has lost none of his passion and love for the game. His passing was exceptional with 40 yard balls being launched across the park onto the toe of the sprinting winger. Creating space is his speciality and his tackles are as committed as Vinny Jones. It does make you wonder if he hadn’t suffered a double injury with the Spanish giants what career path he could have taken. If you love football, to pay just the 5 Euros gate fee to see this man play is an absolute steal.
Another Rojillos player who hit form on Saturday was the unpredictable winger Toñito. On his day there is nobody on the park better. Having played with Jotha for several years both players seem to have a telepathic understanding of each other. Toñito loves to switch wings and ran both full backs ragged all afternoon.
By the sounds of this Lanzarote were in good form and they were. Defensively the team was strong, midfield was creative and the front men of Rosmen and Yaco were proving to be a real handful. The only problem Lanzarote had with this was their opponents who were equal in form. Attacking from the right wing Lanzarote´s youthful right back Oscar got caught out on a few occasions.
In a match in which most players made few mistakes it was always going to be tough to find the breakthrough. On the half hour Rosmen came close with a header and a few minutes after the break Tenisca striker Memo thought he had put his side in front when he nodded home a fantastic header into the top corner, only for the Ref to blow for a foul as he had pushed the Rojillos defender before his jump to head the ball.
Right back Camacho came close with 10 minutes to go and in the closing minutes sub Juanca almost claimed all three points for the Rojillos when he struck on the edge of the area but the La Palma keeper made light of his effort. The game ended fairly with a point for both sides.
Lanzarote have seven points from their opening four matches and are in seventh spot in the table three points short of league leaders CD Mensajero. Some great news is that British boy Ryan Macphee has returned from injury and should be available for selection next week.
Next Saturday the Rojillos travel to Gran Canaria to face UD Telde.
