Batalla en las Canarias. By Steve.

BATTLE OF THE CANARIES

CD TENERIFE - 1 FC CARTAGENA - 1

BY STEVE HIBBERD

Four sending offs, Eight bookings and two goals, made for an interesting (if not pugnacious) game of football inside Heliodoro Rodriguez Lopez Stadium, Tenerife. Referee Andres Silva certainly had his work cut out, as he struggled to keep control of this hard fought div 2a encounter, watched by 16,145 predominately Tenerife faithful (not even the most die hard fans from Cartagena could afford the air fare!!). Twas a debut for new Tenerife manager Juan Mandia, whose mandate was obviously to get points on the board following his sides awful start to the season of 5 straight defeats. Goalkeeper Casilla could only watch and hope, as a delightful dipping shot cum cross by Tenerife new boy Nino hit the crossbar, before bouncing to safety after only 3 mins. Although both sides huffed and puffed, neither keepers were really tested during a 1st half that came to life for all the wrong reasons. Following a heated verbal exchange with the referee, senor Mandia was ordered to the stands on 42 mins - an inauspicious start to his new job. Cartagena captain Mariano Sanchez is certainly no stranger to disciplinary hearings, which is just as well for moments before the half time whistle sounded, his mistimed scything tackle earned him a 2nd yellow card, and his umpteenth sending off for his club.

Different half, but same player making an early impression. With only Casilla to beat, Nino got his angles all wrong as he shot into the side netting, when really he should have put the home side ahead. Casilla saved well from the dangerous Hidalgo, before totally against the run of play Cartagena took the lead. Toni Moral made a teasing run inside the penalty area, before unceremoniously having his legs taken from under him after 62 mins. Step forward ace marksman Toche, who coolly dispatched the resultant penalty and take his seasons tally to 5 goals. Unfortunately, the lead lasted only 5 mins, before an inch perfect low cross by Juanlo was converted at close range by Nino. Ex Cartagena favourite Natalio, recently on as sub, turned back the clock when his superb long range chipped shot was acrobatically cleared off the line by full back Txiki. Inside the closing 10 mins, all hell broke loose. First off, the home side were reduced to 10 men when Bellvis picked up his 2nd yellow card, then shortly afterwards Herrero received a straight red card for callously (although not violently) bringing down a opponent in full flight - whether it was a denying a goal scoring opportunity was debatable. The final word was left to Natalio who saw his goal bound shot well saved by the overworked Casilla. So, all in all, manager JIM must be reasonably pleased with a point, especially when you consider that for whole of the 2nd half his side were a man short, then for the last 10 mins it was real backs to the wall stuff, as the 9 men defended stoutly with only Toche employed in the opponents half.

FC Cartagena line-up

Casilla, Clavero, Txiki, Herrero, Bothelo, Keko (Riau), Mariano, Longas (Julian), Lafuente (Exposito), Moral, Toche

Forthcoming Fixture

Having now dropped to 12th place on 7 points, a win is vital if Cartagena's steady decline is to be arrested. A home match at Cartagonova Stadium against mid table Gimnastic Tarragona on Sat 9 Oct, ko 6pm, is hopefully the place where the next 3 points will be delivered. Check out www.gotocartago.com or www.futbolclubcartagena for up to date info on FC Cartagena.