LANZAROTE   1   CF UNIÓN VIERA   2

Football has been missing from Ciudad Deportiva since a home win way back in March. It came back today and gave us a good reminder on how cruel it can be.

The Rojillos were very much in control of this match and went into the 86^th minute 1-0 up with their opponents reduced to ten men. Four minutes later and out of nowhere they were trailing 1-2 from an own goal and a penalty.

Prior to kickoff both sides observed a minutes silence for our much loved Nina. La Madrina (The Godmother) of UD Lanzarote passed away peacefully last Tuesday aged 86.

The Gran Canarian side were in buoyant mood going into this match as early league leaders, following their impressive 4-1 victory over UD Las Palmas C last week.

Lanzarote looked lively at the beginning and in just the second minute it seemed as though midfielder Miguel Gopar had been tripped in the area. The referee took a good look and I am sure it was a close decision but he decided to waive away the protests and played on.

Possession was fairly even during the first half but it was the Rojillos who had the clearer chances. In the 15^th minute Miguel Gómez fired just over the crossbar from the edge of the box. A minute later Kevin Castro teed up Ayoze Pérez but his half volley from ten yards went well clear of the upright.

Even though the score was goalless at the interval Lanzarote had played well. One did fear for the Rojillos as the game progressed as they were the more likely to tire in this heat due to their lack of pre season matches.

Two minutes into the second half and the ball was cut back from the by-line from the visitors. Felipe found himself with a free hit from ten yards but defender Javi Morales stretched and managed to clear the danger.

Only a minute later and the impressive 20 year old debutant Julyan intelligently headed the ball on into the path of Miguel Gómez. The Lanzarote winger struck on the half volley from 12 yards but saw his effort narrowly go past the right hand post.

In the 52^nd minute a quick throw by Javi Morales released Ayoze Pérez down the left. Ayoze raced to the by-line and pulled the ball back to find Miguel Gómez who calmly slotted the ball home from ten yards to give his side a well deserved 1-0 advantage.

The Rojillos looked to increase that lead and Miguel Gómez had a couple more left foot strikes that were not far off the target but Lanzarote couldn’t find that important second goal.

The visitors made some changes so the Rojillos manager Josu Uribe felt that he had to do the same to keep his side fresh especially with the lack of game time his players have had.

In the 64^th minute one of his subs Adrián Machín was brought on and the 21 year olds nifty footwork and exciting play would have been appreciated from a crowd. Unfortunately our local government refusal of permission to grant entry to spectators saw that didn’t happen.

In the 77^th minute the visitors were reduced to ten men when substitute Jeremy Betancort received a straight red for a foul on Javi Morales and the Rojillos looked as though they were home and dry.

This dismissal only seemed to spur on Unión Viera and as the match entered into its final ten minutes you could sense the nervousness increase from the home side.

In the 86^th minute Javi Morales got the slightest of touches from a quality corner kick, the ball flew into the top right hand corner leaving his keeper no hope for an own goal and the score was level at 1-1.

If Lanzarote thought that things couldn’t have got worse then they were in for a rude awakening. In the 89^th minute Kevin Mendoza took advantage of a tiring defence on this beautiful but hot October day and drove towards the penalty area. Rojillos midfielder Kilian went to ground with a rash challenge and brought down the player for a clear penalty.

Mendoza struck the spot kick towards the right hand corner but the Lanzarote keeper Rúyman pulled off an incredible low save. Unfortunately the ball fell kindly to the same player and he made no mistake on his second attempt and incredibly it was 1-2.

Even with the five minutes of added on time Lanzarote could not find a way back into this match and they will be massively disappointed with this result.

It’s hard to feel positive after a Smash and Grab raid like this but it was a very good team performance and had they not switched off for five minutes the headlines would be completely different.

Ayoze, Rosmen and Miguel Gómez led like the captains they are. Youngsters on their home debut Dani González, Julyan and Machín were outstanding as were many others.

We will be hoping on our next home match on Sunday the 8^th November versus CF Arucas that our local government will go along with the advice from the Canarian Health authorities and allow the public to watch and support their island team.

Many thanks to Rubén Betancort and Domingo Travieso from www.lanzarotedeportiva.com for streaming the match live on YouTube. Next week’s match away versus second placed UD San Fernando will shown live on Canarias TV (details to come).

Also huge appreciation for those of you who contributed on https://www.gofundme.com/f/UD-lanzarote?sharetype=teams&fbclid=IwAR0Y_yGCL_bcoiRdW5vpOYxGPOMrqLrufAs4tjauZQ72DDHCROkq6XLzePQ

At the moment only 180 Euros has been raised but even this amount helps towards paying the officials for today’s match. The club haven’t been able to sell their season tickets or received gate entrance because of the restrictions imposed from our local government. If you can contribute anything it will be welcomed and we have decided to leave the page open for a while.

Photos of this match are on Facebook page, Lanzarote football club. Thank you to Pipo Santana for the photos.

                        GOALS

                       1-0 min 52 Miguel Gómez

                       1-1 min 86 Javi Morales (own goal)

                       1-2 min 90 Kevin Mendoza (penalty)