LANZAROTE 4 CD UNIÓN PUERTO 1

It was nine days short of three months that Lanzarote last played a competitive match and only one week of training in over two months. The players and management must be congratulated on maintaining fitness but more importantly match sharpness.

The debutant Giovanni naturally made the headlines with his terrific hat trick however every single one of those players gave their body and soul to the cause.

In the 4th minute Giovanni made his intentions clear when he struck from 20 yards with the outside of his right foot, his curling effort forced keeper Rodrigo to save at full stretch.

With 10 games in 30 days what the Rojillos didn’t want was any injuries and in the 7^th minute an unfortunate fall for key defender Raúl led to a dislocated shoulder. The no nonsense centre back was evidently in pain and will be out for at least two weeks.

His replacement wasn’t such a bad one with Miguel Gómez coming on a lot earlier than he had anticipated.

In the 24^th minute a corner from Ayoze Pérez was nodded down by the Brazilian centre back Matheus and Giovanni executed a super overhead kick only to see the ball cleared off the goal line.

Only five minutes later and Giovanni found space down the right wing to receive a throw from fellow debutant Oriol. The 23 year old played the ball central to Rosmen and his deft return touch allowed the new boy to curl a superb left footed strike from 20 yards into the far left hand corner to send the Rojillos 1-0 up.

A dream start for Giovanni

Lanzarote remained solid defensively for the remainder of the half but surely they couldn’t have dreamt to such a great finish to the opening period.

Firstly, on the stroke of the 45^th minute Lanzarote created a goal which could go down as one of the best ever in Arrecife. It was difficult to see the initial passage of play from the distant camera but close up where I was it was fantastic, Miguel Gómez incredibly passed the ball from his left foot which was wrapped around his right. Rosmen being fully aware of the skill his team mate possesses read the situation and on cue rose to glance a header into the path of his new strike partner. The lad from Tenerife brimming with confidence outrageously struck the ball from 40 yards and was already celebrating before the ball dipped into the right hand corner of the goal. A truly remarkable bit of play by Miguel, Rosmen and Giovanni.

Giovanni head over heels with a wonder goal.

With fans still not allowed into the matches there were only club directors, press and officials at the game and most of those would have been content with a 2-0 half time lead. Miguel Gómez was having none of that. In the third minute of stoppage time he flew down the left wing, cut inside and with the outside of his left foot guided the ball low past the keeper into the bottom right hand corner to give his side a precious 3-0 advantage to take into the break.

Miguel Gómez giving the Fuerteventura defence nightmares.

This season Lanzarote could take nothing for granted and as the second half began the Fuerteventura side started to look dangerous. Rojillos keeper Alejandro had to be alert in the 52^nd minute as he saved low from a strike from 8 yards.

The goal that Lanzarote fans would have feared came in the 12^th minute of the second period and what a strike it was. Midfielder Liñares received the ball a good 25 plus yards out and hit the sweetest strike possible which flew into the left hand corner and all Rojillo fans began fearing the worst with the score at 3-1.

Ten minutes later and the visitors had a golden opportunity to score a second. Centre back Borja Granda found himself with a free header from a corner six yards out but managed to miss the target. A real let off for Lanzarote.

The fans needn’t have worried anymore as their side began to regain control. To end the fairytale the only thing that was left was for the new boy to get his hat trick. In the 72^nd minute Rosmen fired in an effort from the edge of the box, the keeper parried the ball and the impressive Oriol instantly fed Giovanni who gratefully tucked the ball away from six yards giving his side a fine 4-1 win whilst completing his man of the match performance with a debut hat trick.

Lanzarote´s midfield was impressive with Ayoze Pérez, Keita and Miguel Gopar all being dominant. The latter came close to increasing the score in the 80^th minute but his effort from 20 yards went inches past the right hand post.

A very happy UD Lanzarote.

Whilst Lanzarote will be buoyant with this great display they are fully aware that this is a tiny step into a marathon that they have ahead of them. Lanzarote remain bottom but have narrowed the gap to safety to only five points and have games in hand on their competition. On Sunday the team travel to Las Palmas to play relegation rivals UD Villa Santa Brígida and it goes without saying that they must leave Gran Canaria with a result.

On Wednesday 17^th March (at time to be confirmed) Lanzarote will host third from bottom side UD Guía. The island is very likely to be on Level 2 by then which means that we should be allowed fans. Please do not take this for certain, we have been here before and our own local government denied us this.

We are still the only side who don’t allow supporters to matches and this must change. We have the biggest stadium in the league, we are outdoors and to distance between people is simple. For absolute certain the club will be insisting to our politicians that now is the time. As soon as I nhave info on this matter I will post. Photos of this match are on Facebook : Lanzarote football club

GOALS