Our Man from Arrecife,Ian Lane, reports for Sol y FutbolLANZAROTE 3 REAL MADRID B 4
30th November 2009
As customary it was another scorching hot day as the Rojillos (reds) found themselves two goals down before the half hour mark. At 1-4 down and with only 10 men Lanzarote made an extraordinary fight of it and were only a whisker away from stealing a point.
It wasn’t an ideal start for the Rojillos with central defender Francis being carried off in the opening two minutes with an ankle injury. Manager Carmelo Hernández had the unenviable job of restructuring his already fragile defence with the game in its infancy.
Seconds later and a swift move from the youth of Real Madrid saw the ball thunder off the underside of the bar and the defence of Lanzarote desperately scrambled the ball away to safety giving Lanzarote ample warning of things to come.
The future superstars of Real Madrid looked impressive with their fast, accurate passing and off the ball movement that had the Conejeros (locals) chasing shadows and it looked inevitable the breakthrough for the all whites would come soon.
In the 15th minute a corner whipped in low and hard was met by youngster Luis Hernández and his glancing header at the near post combined with the pace of the ball left the Lanzarote keeper with no chance and the B team of Real Madrid were 0-1 up. Once again horrendous defending from set pieces have left Lanzarote with the worst defensive record in the league conceding 39 goals in only 15 games.
In fairness Lanzarote began to gather their composer and started to join the tempo of the match. In the 22nd minute a cross swung in from the left was powerfully headed by Lanzarote’s big striker Rosmen but unfortunately his effort flew inches over when he really should have done better.
In the 28th minute Lanzarote lost possession in the centre of the park to the goal scorer Luis Hernández, his defence splitting pass released striker Juan Carlos who rounded the Rojillos keeper and coolly slotted the ball home giving his side a comfortable 0-2 lead.
Ten minutes before the break and the Rojillos were handed a lifeline when midfielder Maikel Padrón was brought down by defender Nacho just inside the box and the Catalan Ref ordered a spot kick. Rubén Rodriguez blasted home and the Rojillos were back in the match as the score remained at 1-2 till half time.
Just under10 seconds into the second half and the hope from Lanzarote’s faithful was shattered. Striker Juan Carlos immediately broke through the dormant defence of the Conejeros, and with the echo of the Refs whistle still ringing in our ears stroked the ball wide of the Lanzarote keeper and into the corner of the net restoring his sides two goal cushion at 1-3.
Things got worse. In the 53rd minute Lanzarote’s temperamental winger Toñito reacted to some shirt pulling and raised his hands to the face of his opponent and as customary in Spanish football the boy fell quicker than a sack of spuds. The Ref showed Toñito red and Lanzarote were forced to play with the remainder of the match with only 10 men.
Four minutes on and the mountain Lanzarote already had to climb exploded with volcanic force as the B team of Real Madrid scored their fourth of the day. Madrid striker Cristian beat off a weak challenge from centre back Faruk and neatly placed his shot wide of keeper Floro to give his side a 1-4 advantage.
Battling away in midfield for Lanzarote was Captain Vladi and his never say die spirit winning challenges egged on his team mates and forced Madrid to retreat. In the 69th minute Maikel Padrón blasted a low drive from the edge of the area which was blocked. The ball rebounded back to the midfielder and he fired in a similar effort which made its way through the crowd of players and even though the Madrid keeper got a hand to it, it was not enough as the ball crawled over the line leaving the score line at 2-4.
Lanzarote piled on the pressure and in the 74th minute a surging run from ex Real Madrid player Jotha ended when he was tripped two yards outside the box. Dead ball specialist Rubén Rodriguez curled a left footer around the wall and into the top left hand corner making the score 3-4. A beauty! Again the impossible was on.
There is no doubt that the introduction of Englishman Ian Robinson on the hour mark when the score was 1-4 contributed immensely to this fight back. The Barnsley boy will chase everything and closes down defenders creating errors and his speed terrifies the opposition. He is a great weapon to have but the Lanzarote management must learn to shoot this weapon before their prey gets too far away to become a target.
Many of the Lanzarote supporters had left on the hour mark which was extremely disappointing. One learns from a very young age that the only time a game is over is when the Ref blows. These supporters missed a great finale and five minutes from time a cross from the left from Lanzarote’s man of the match Rubén Rodriguez found the head of sub Ayoze Pérez and the midfielder headed powerfully but only into the arms of Madrid keeper Adam. That proved to be the last effort of note for the Rojillos in the match.
It may well be a spirited fight back but there are no points gained for that. The Rojillos remain bottom and have slipped to eight points from safety. Next week Lanzarote fly to Madrid then another flight to Northern Spain to the Santander region and will play fifth placed side Torrelavega.
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