CD THADER – 2 CF CALPE – 2
Fresh from a morale boosting last gasp victory in Alicante last weekend, the men from Rojales gave their all, to record a hard-fought point. Calpe arrived at Moi Gomez stadium, lying 3rd place in the Community league, currently embarking on a good run of form. But, underestimate Thader at your peril, for Carlos Canales young side have suddenly come of age! Gone are the days when heads would drop as soon as the team leaked goals, seemingly having no backbone, having been replaced by a determined unit who are now playing as a team.
With only 10 mins on the clock, a fine individual run at the defence by Sergi, resulted in the young Thader striker crossing the ball for Javi, who made no mistake from point blank range. A bad miss by Calpe’s front man Meji on 16 mins, was soon rectified, for from the very next attack, he crossed for Fede to level the scores.
A disastrous defensive mix up in Thader’s defence, gift wrapped Calpe’s 2nd goal on the half hour mark. Juan almost presented Calpe with another goal on 36 mins, but only the skillful silky footwork of keeper Chema, worthy of a gifted winger, got his team out of trouble. Inside 1st half stoppage time, Meji again put in another teasing cross, only this time, Fede failed to get onto the end of it.
There were strong appeals for a penalty on 48 mins, but although it did appear that a defender handled the ball inside Calpe’s box, the match ref was having none of it. Not long on the pitch for Sergi, Thader sub Tremino made an instant impact, when under pressure, he managed to squeeze home a shot just inside the near post on 50 mins.
Now it was all to play for, a signal for both teams to go for it hammer and tongs. Within seconds of the restart, Yuyo almost gave the hosts the lead, but his long-range effort was well saved by Calpe’s keeper, Cassius.
Although Calpe were a team of giants, they weren’t having it their own way, as Thader’s snappy terriers were more than a match for them. Next it was Chema to come to his side’s rescue, when he pushed aside a goal bound effort on 66 mins, then from the resulting corner, he punched the ball to safety from under the cross bar. Full credit to the ref, for the first booking didn’t arrive until 70 mins, a statistic which is a rarity in Spanish football.
The direct free kick by Pedro Juan was agonisingly wide, as Thader were not resting on their laurels. Up the other end, Calpe sub Cosmin headed wide of an open goal on 73 mins, much to the relief of a nail biting set of Thader fans. With time ticking away, both teams defensive substitutions suggested that a draw would be acceptable, although the visitors probably finished the stronger of the two.
So, although Thader remain rooted to bottom spot on 8 points, they are slowly closing the gap from the pack just above them. There isn’t any league football next weekend, but Thader will be in action on Wednesday 6 December, ko 4pm. A 3 hour drive up to Castellon region awaits them, when they will encounter FC Odisea, who currently sit top of the preferente division, to play a La Nostra copa (Valencia regional cup) match. For regular updates on CD Thader, a visit to their facebook page is highly recommended.
