Un equipo con mordiente. By Steve.

NAIL BITING STUFF AT CARTAGONOVA

FC CARTAGENA - 2 GRANADA CF - 1

BY STEVE HIBBERD

Down to 10 men for the last 15 mins, Los Albinegros showed true grit, as they steadfastly held on to secure a hard fought victory against in form Granada, inside Cartagonova stadium. The games first real chance produced a goal on 11 mins. Toni Moral sent over an inviting cross, which Victor converted with a close range header, putting the home side ahead. Unfortunately, the lead only lasted 6 mins. Moral went from hero to villain as he failed to put in a tackle on Abel, who then sent over a low cross to the far post, which Orellana hammered into the back of the net to level proceedings. Shortly afterwards, Moral was again centre stage, this time he inadvertently sent the ref flying, in an attempt to win the ball. On 21 mins, strong penalty appeals for a foul on Toche fell on deaf ears, as this match was already riveting end to end stuff.

Eventually, Cartagena created the better chances, with both Moral and Victor having long range shots which just missed the target. Cast your minds back to the early 70s, when Don Revie's Leeds humiliated Southampton on MOTD by playing exhibition passing football, well Cartagena had a similar spell, in which I counted no less than 19 passes, before the ball eventually went out of play. But it's no good playing pretty football unless you have something to show for it - enter Toche. Low on confidence, what Cartagena's top scorer needed was a goal, and when his powerful drive beat the keeper all ends up, that's exactly what he got.

Although the 2nd half was void of further goals, it was just as exciting nevertheless. Granada's giant central defender Mensah, was so unlucky with a bullet header that eased the wrong side of the post. Casilla rewarded manager JIM's faith in him, following last weeks horror show, when he pulled off 2 top drawer saves from Granada striker Geijo. Victor saw that Granada keeper Roberto was off his line, but his cheeky 30 yard lobbed shot was comfortably saved. Granada were now shooting on sight, as both Collantes and Benitez blazed over the bar. With time ticking away, sub Munoz (only on the pitch for 2 mins!) recklessly committed a dreadful 2 footed tackle on an opponent, leaving ref Lopez with no option but to issue him with a straight red card. But, try as they may, Granada were unable to breach a determined Los Albinegros rear guard, who fully deserved their standing ovation following the eagerly awaited final whistle.

FC Cartagena line-up

Casilla, Botelho, Cala, Cygan, Txiki (Herrero), Moral, Longas, Victor (Munoz), Toche, Mariano, Lafuente (Keko)

Forthcoming Fixture

Next week, 10th place Cartagena travel to the far reaches of Andalucia (close to the Portuguese border), for a div 2a encounter against lowly Recreativo de Huelva. This match takes place on Sun 14 Nov, ko 5pm at the Nuevo Colombino stadium. For regular updates on FC Cartagena, check out www.nosoloefese.es,    www.gotocartago.com or www.futbolclubcartagena.com.