Hercules CF ´B´ – 1 CD Thader – 1
BY STEVE HIBBERD
On a day when Hercules CF first team were preparing to do battle against Real Murcia on the adjoining Rico Perez stadium, Thader maintained their unbeaten start to a new Community league season. A normally spartan crowd inside Deportiva Antonio Valls, was swelled by a large number of Hercules fans who had gathered to watch the first team, which was due to kick off over 3 hours later.
Raul Mora elected to make 3 changes to the side that beat Eldense ´B´ the previous week. Out went Amine, Kone and Maya, to be replaced by Lloyd, Philip and Berni.
Inside 2 mins, Chema was forced to make an important save to deny Angel opening the scoring for the hosts. Less than a minute later, they did have the ball in Thader´s net, but it was quickly chalked off for an infringement. On 17 mins, Tremino shot from an acute angle, which scraped the angle of post and bar. Lloyd came to his sides rescue on 25 mins, when his 2 firm block tackles thwarted dangerous Hercules assaults on goal.
Diaz, Hercules lanky Peter Crouch clone (plus long hair) should have put his team in the driving seat on the half hour mark, but he headed wide with the goal at his mercy. As frustration set in, a number of skirmishes developed, resulting in a number of players from both sides being shown yellow cards.
As in the 1st half, Chema came to his side´s rescue after the break, this time denying Sergio, whose firm drive was suitably dealt with by Thader´s agile keeper. Having previously missed a sitter, Diaz headed against the bar, before heading the rebound wide of a crestfallen Chema, to put the hosts one up on 57 mins.
A Lloyd speciality long range free kick on the hour mark, was tipped away for a corner by the hosts custodian, Lujan.
Parity was restored on 72 minutes, when a high pumped through ball found the unmarked Fran, who fired home with conviction from 10 yards.
It appeared that Serhiy was unfairly bundled over in the hosts penalty area on 82 mins, but alas, the match referee was unimpressed, allowing play to continue. Deep into stoppage time, Hercules almost stole a victory, and would have, had Hugo not headed the wrong side of Chema´s far post.
On Sun 29 Sep, Thader will be playing UD Carcaixent (try pronouncing that if you can!!) inside Moi Gomez stadium, Rojales. Normally it would be an 11.30am ko, but there is a possibility that this may change to a later start. Therefore, it is advised to visit CD Thader facebook page for updates on this, and other Thader related issues.
