U.S YAIZA 0 LANZAROTE 0
U.S YAIZA 0 LANZAROTE 0 8TH Dec 2015-12-09
What a huge disappointment this derby match proved to be. A horrible strong wind blew across the pitch and with the hosts scoring just 4 goals in their last 8 outings but still picking up an incredible 12 points this weather played into the hands of the home side.
Lanzarote knew this was going to be a physical match but when the officials stopped play for every foul the game could find no rhythm as the yellow cards mounted up.
As this was an away match it was one that I was looking forward to as I could enjoy a beer watching my club on a public holiday. To make things better my wife said she would like to join me to watch the match and as Anna is no great fan of the beautiful game I was well happy with the hope of converting her to the round ball game rather than Yoga or Zumba.
Leaving our home in Tahiche with nothing more than a gentle breeze with the sun being covered only by the occasional cloud all looked good. Just as we left I stopped the car and ran back inside to get my sweatshirt with Anna saying you won’t be needing that as we are heading south. Best decision of the day I had made was there and then.
Twenty minutes later we arrived in Yaiza in what looked like a storm with gale force winds and not a drop of sun in sight. Anyway we all know the weather changes quickly on this stunning island so we went in the bar and thoroughly enjoyed meeting up with fellow fans as I consumed my first pint of the day.
By 11.30am we all headed across the road to the stadium and with the weather not subsiding we just about flew to the gate to pay our entrance fee.
If you think this is boring I would advise you to stop reading as a report on this match would have had you asleep minutes ago.
Nothing happened first half apart from the ball being kicked out of the ground by the swirling wind and the Ref doing his best to make the game as boring as possible for my wife for blowing up at every trivial opportunity he had.
It would be unfair to just blame the officials or the wind as the players contributed immensely to a poor first half.
During the break I met up with Lanzarote midfielder Brad Cockerill and his Dad Ian. Brad seemed much more upbeat about his injury and now with his swelling down he will have a scan in the next day or two. His results will take some time but specialists have told Brad that it may not be as serious as first thought; hopefully he might have sustained just cartilage damage rather than ligaments so I am sure we all wish him our very best.
As the second half began the wind slowly started to drop and spots of sun began to gives us warmth though not enough to remove my sweatshirt.
A few minutes into the second half and Rosmen fired a shot which whilst it was on target easily fell into the arms of the Yaiza keeper Doramas.
In the 54th minute centre back Kamara came close with a header for the home side but with the game being battled out in midfield there were only rare moments of action.
In the 75th minute the Ref sent off the Lanzarote sub Miguel Gómez and Yaiza midfielder Juanco following a brawl. As the players left the field the brawl continued towards the dressing room.
Eight minutes from time and the game suddenly exploded into life. Rojillos defender Fran Gil was deemed to have brought down striker Ubay and the Ref awarded Yaiza a penalty.
Javi Morales fired the spot kick low but the ball flew off the right hand post and away to safety. It was just a shame this penalty hadn’t occurred earlier as it now resembled a football match with both sides looking for the win, though with no clear chances the Ref finally put us out of our misery and blew his whistle for full time.
As you may have guessed this was not a performance of what we have been used to this season watching Lanzarote, nevertheless it was still an away point and even though they had failed to score for the first time this season the Rojillos are still top but their lead is down to just two points.
Next week Lanzarote travel to Tenerife to play bottom club UD Cruz Santa. The newly promoted club have struggled in the fourth tier of Spanish football. In their 15 matches they have won just once and have only found the net on six occasions.
