RAYO IBENSE – 2 CD THADER – 2
Forced to field an understrength side against 2nd in the table Rayo Ibense, Thader manager Raul Mora must have feared the worse.
Even with 2 new signings, the visitors could only name 5 of the permitted 7 substitutes. Pedro has arrived from a USA university side, having previously scored 14 goals for Thader in the 18/19 season, whilst centre back Konate arrived from Orihuela CF.
A number of players, including club captain Lloyd, Dani Lucas & Josan, were isolating from Covid. Rayo play their home matches in the mountainous town of Ibi, at the modern Francisco Vitaplana stadium, having dropped only 6 points all season.
It took a worldly save from Thader keeper Chema on 17 mins, to deny the hosts from taking the lead, then from the rebound, he bravely punched the ball out for a corner.
Attacking full back Rosquin received a cross from the right on 29 mins, this was followed with deadly accuracy, as he drilled home his first goal for the men from Rojales.
Alas, the lead lasted less than a minute, for Omar was allowed to run through the defence unchallenged, before rifling home a shot past a helpless Chema.
When Rosquin was brought down for a cast iron penalty on 54 mins, it was anyone’s guess who would step up to the mark. Having previously missed a couple from the spot this season, Thader were running out of candidates, but the duty once again fell upon the once reliable Ruben.
This time he made no mistake, sending the keeper the wrong way to make up for his previous poor miss. Konate came on as sub, and along with fellow debutant Pedro, made a good impression.
Rayo sub Rafa seemed to appear from nowhere, robbing Oscar of the ball on 64 mins, then as Chema came off his line to reduce the angle, he somehow managed to find space in which to fire home the equaliser.
Up to that point, ref Eduardo had sensibly kept his cards in his pockets, but starting with Quino, he proceeded to book a total of 3 Thader and 1 Rayo players, as the game took on a more nervous approach.
Miguel almost sliced the ball into his own net on 80 mins, as Thader were forced to defend heroically. On the stroke of full time, a counter attack resulted in Thader sub Calderon putting the ball in the net, only for an offside flag to cut short his celebration.
On Sun 16 Jan, ko 1130, Thader visit local rivals Benferri. The opening day of the season saw the hosts record an excellent 3-1 victory at Moi Gomez stadium, and apart from a few disappointing results, they are looking good in 7th position on 24 points.
