Los"tipos" buenos perdieron. By Steve.

AND THE GOOD GUYS LOST

FC CARTAGENA - 0 ELCHE CF - 1

BY STEVE HIBBERD

With the clock showing 89 mins 57 secs, Wakaso broke clear on the left wing, before pulling the ball back from the dead ball line to Linares, who had the simple task of side footing the ball home to give Elche an undeserved victory. For the second year running, Elche came to Cartagonova Stadium content to gain a point, but unfortunately (for football) left with all 3. Their spoiling tactics won them few friends amongst the 8,500 crowd, although as they headed back home up the AP7, this was the probably the furthest from their minds. Elche, who have mastered the art of cheating, seemingly having invented the word 'snide', were highly delighted with arbitro Perez Montero and his Andalusian assistants, who appeared either oblivious or reluctant to punish footballs bad boys. Had Montero dealt correctly with the highly annoying Wakaso (think Cardiff's Bellamy and you get the picture!!), who committed enough offences to have seen red many times over, then his well delivered cross would not have taken place. 

 The 1st half was a very scrappy affair, as Elche broke up any inventive Cartagena moves in typical Elche style. On 13 min, an inch perfect cross was met by the head of Toche, but lacked any real power and never really threatened keeper Willy. A comical mix up involving Cartagena keeper Rebello punching the ball onto the back of his player, was eventually cleared following a mad scramble. Loud shouts for a penalty went on deaf ears, when after an off the ball incident, 2 Cartagena players lay flat out inside the area. Although I confess that I did not see what happened, players reactions did indicate that Elche's homework had paid off.

Unbelievably, the first incident of note in the 2nd half involved another off the ball incident inside Elche's penalty area, and once again neither the ref nor his assistant spotted the offence (how convenient). Keeper Willy was keeping Elche in the game, again showing his alertness when he superbly took the ball of Victors head to prevent a certain goal. Sub Goiria shot just over the Elche bar on 41 mins, but as time ticked away you somehow knew that a breakaway goal was just around the corner, and the only consolation for Cartagena fans is that they have to put up with Elche's negative tactics only once more this season.

FC Cartagena line-up

Rebollo, Cygan, Txiki, Mariano, Botelho, Toche, Longas, Lafuente, Moral (Keko), Victor (Goiria), Exposito

TALE OF TWO HALVES

FC CARTAGENA - 1 RAYO VALLECANO - 3

I know it's an old cliche, but this copa del Rey match saw Cartagena produce a typical Jekyll and Hyde performance. Carrying on from the fantastic opening league match performance at Xerez, Cartagena were excellent in the 1st half. In front of an encouraging 8,000 plus crowd, Toche was running the show up front, almost scoring early on through a free kick which was well saved. Rayo survived 2 strong penalty appeals, before Toche shot just over on 30 mins. But on 38 mins, a brilliant solo run by Botelho, resulted in his assist being side footed home by Toche. Just before the interval, a confident lobbed effort from new boy Keko was well saved.

The 2nd half belonged to the visitors. On 58 mins, Provencio slammed the ball past Rebello for the equaliser. A clear cut penalty on 71 mins, resulted in Aganzo sending keeper Rebello the wrong way with his well taken kick. Finally, inside stoppage time, a Trejo goal ensured that it was the name of Rayo Vallecano who entered the draw for the next round of the Spanish FA cup.

FC Cartagena line-up

Rebollo, Txiki, Clavero, Botelho, Toche (Victor), Julien, Cala, Keko (Lafuente), Munoz (Mariano), Goiria, Ruiz

Forthcoming Fixture

The last of 3 consecutive home matches takes place at Cartagonova Stadium on Sat 11 Sep, ko 6pm. Newly promoted Barcelona 'B' provide the opposition for the div 2a match, in which Cartagena will be determined to bounce back after 2 bad results. For further information on FC Cartagena, visit www.gotocartago.com or www.futbolclubcartagena.com.