LANZAROTE 2 CD SANTA ÚRSULA 0
LANZAROTE 2 CD SANTA ÚRSULA 0, 29th November 2015
What a great weekend for the Rojillos. On the Saturday Lanzarote´s closest rivals UD Telde and Las Palmas B both lost so with this win Lanzarote are now four points clear at the top of the league.
This will not go down as a classic, not by a long way but two deserved goals in the final fifteen minutes was enough to secure the win against the Tenerife side and make it 29 games since defeat at home, just four short of the record of 33 set back in the mid 90´s.
Neither side were impressive in the opening minutes though you could see Lanzarote´s winger Toñito was up for the match as he breezed past defenders on both flanks though his team mates were not on the same wave length. You do know that if Toñito wants to play you will be guaranteed at least two or three good chances every match.
The first clear chance of the match was in the 17th min and looked certain to be a gift wrapped goal for the visitors. A ball split through the middle of the Lanzarote defence found striker Salva. The Tenerife front man seemed to have too much time on his hands and took one touch too many which enabled the Lanzarote keeper Agoney to smother the ball. That was the big chance for the visitors and one did feel from then on the three points were eventually going to go to the home side.
In the 20th min Rojillos defender José Miguel sweetly struck a 25 yard shot but the Tenerife keeper made no fuss of the save. Moments later and a defensive mix up almost let in Rosmen then Toñito but both were inches away of connecting to the ball with what would have been just the keeper to beat.
A free kick was half cleared by the visitors in the 24th minute and Fran Gil pounced on the ball first and looked as though he had been upended by the defender however the Ref was positioned well and waved play on.
One could see Lanzarote´s manager Adolfo Pérez was not happy with proceedings and warming up before the break from the subs bench were Javi Betancort, Louis Kennedy and Kilian.
Second half saw the introduction of both Kennedy and Javi Betancort and immediately Lanzarote looked more of an attacking force. Credit to the away side that had not been beaten in their last six outings, they defended with order and it was only with set pieces that the hosts looked threatening.
On the hour the Tenerife keeper saved well from a Marcos Cabrera free kick and a couple of minutes later Toñito curled a ball around the wall but missed the target by a fraction.
As the time kicked on so did Lanzarote´s intensity and visible signs of weakening in the stubborn defence of Santa Úrsula were appearing. Kennedy and Toñito were working well together down the right flank and stretching the defence of the visitors to the limit.
Finally in the 77th minute a long throw from Raúl was flicked on at the near post by Rosmen and with the keeper stranded substitute Javi Betancort nodded the ball into the corner of the net giving the Rojillos a deserved 1-0 lead.
Ten minutes later and Toñito weaved past a couple of defenders down the right and as he entered the area Lanzarote´s man of the match was completely hacked down by ex Lanzarote player Faruk and the Ref immediately pointed to the spot.
Captain Rosmen made no mistake by putting his laces behind the ball and thumping it home to secure the 2-0 win.
The season could not be panning out better for the Rojillos though they did suffer some bad news a couple of days prior to this match. Lanzarote midfielder Brad Cockerill who had only just returned from injury suffered what appears to be knee ligament damage. The British midfielder who had a super debut season with the club last year has gone through an extremely difficult time with the loss of his mother but do not bet against the 20 year old returning this season.
There is an awful lot of the season remaining and should Lanzarote make the play offs of which they are looking a good bet then we can expect the season to run into late June.
There are no matches next week so the next game is the big Lanzarote derby against Yaiza. This match has been scheduled for the public holiday on Tuesday the 8th December at 12 noon in Yaiza.
GOALS
1-0 min 77 Javi Betancort
2-0 min 89 Rosmen (penalty)
