CD Torrevieja 2 – 2 Crevillente Deportivo
In “Los Clasicos de Sal Part One” CD Torrevieja stormed back from two goals down to take a totally deserved point against Crevillente at Estadio Vicente Garcia. Torrevieja’s best performance of the season was an entertaining spectacle, a thorough mix of attacking panache, kamikaze defending, true grit and, at times, players on entirely different wavelengths. However, it made for a brilliant spectacle for the bumper crowd and everyone will have left feeling that Torrevieja will have been disappointed just to draw.
Players on entirely different wavelengths was to be expected, as Pedreno shuffled the pack once again to see which cards fell on the table. From last weekend’s defeat at Novelda there were five changes. Out went goalkeeper Oscar, defenders Ricardo Cavas and Eddy and the striking duo of Lewis and Cesar. Without knowledge of any injuries, it was surprising to see Eddy and Lewis dropped. The experienced defender has been much improved this season to date, and it could be argued that the young Englishman has been Torrevieja’s best player so far. The formation changed again, switching from the narrow 41212 diamond back to the 4231 by which Torrevieja started the season. In came Miguel, Quintero, Adrian, Juanma and Juanfran.
Torrevieja started very brightly, pinning Crevillente back into their half for the opening ten minutes. The ball was being moved with a positive tempo and the intense pressing game when without the ball appeared to have returned. Juanfran, in front of the excellent Fondo Sur drums, had a half chance but was only able to find the goalkeeper with a tame shot. Crosses were coming in from the left and it looked like there could be an early goal. There was, but sadly not at the end Torrevieja hoped for. Despite all their attacking invention, each time Crevillente got past the Torrevieja midfield it looked like there might be trouble and there was at the first time of asking. Vicente was slow to close down Tonino and his cross was headed past Miguel by Jaime, Miguel possibly thinking he could have done more to stop the ball creeping in. You could feel the confidence drain from the players instantly, and it was odds on that Crevillente could pounce again. They did, just five minutes later. Again Vicente was unable to prevent the cross, a lucky deflection then falling to Carlos totally unmarked. He calmly slotted the ball home.
This time there was a totally different reaction from Torrevieja. If the first goal had made them lose confidence, the second fired them up and they went on the attack. Crevillente barely got a touch of the ball for the remainder of the first half and Torrevieja were rewarded for such bravery. A short corner was taken on the left just after half an hour and Sanchez let fly the sort of cross-cum-shot that Willian of Chelsea has become a specialist in. The ball sailed over the head of Rojo and Torrevieja were back in the game. Juanma let fly from distance a couple of time but was off target and then in injury time a fantastic chance fell to Juanfran. Set free by a direct ball from Luis Carlos the front man was clean through. However three touches were taken when one touch and a shot would have sufficed, and the defence were able to get back and block yet another tame effort. The score was 2-1 at half time to the visitors.
The second half started with more effort than finesse and it looked initially as though Crevillente were going to be able to sit deep and maybe pick up a third on the counter attack. Juanma went close again, driving through the lines and unleashing a powerful left footed drive which Rojo was able to parry away. Twenty minutes passed and the game felt as though it was fizzling out, and then Quintero got on his horse. The big centre back, not having the most comfortable of days defensively, intercepted the ball at the back and laid it wide to Adrian. He then galloped his way forward, determined to be on the end of any cross that might make it’s way into the box. Adrian did not fail him, dribbling twenty yards himself before swinging the ball into the mixer. Rojo came to collect, but just as his hands were about to clutch the ball the big forehead of Quintero intercepted. The ball looped into the corner of the net and the Vicente Garcia exploded. For the second time this season Quintero had scored the equalising goal from a 2-0 deficit.
Do not think that Crevillente decided to take this lying down. Not a bit of it, they rattled the bar from a free kick and it took fine individual blocks from Luis Carlos and then, in injury time, Burguillos to stop shots hitting the target. On reflection, given the even amount of chances, a draw could be argued as the fair result. However, if Torrevieja had defended with confidence and belief in the crazy five minutes that saw Crevillente score twice there is no doubt in my mind that they would have deservedly claimed all three points.
“Los Clasicos de Sal” moves on to part two next weekend, October 11th. CD Torrevieja entertain another local rival in Orihuela, 1700h kick off. With one point separating the two sides towards the bottom of the Tercera Division, it promises to be an entertaining battle. It is a Dia del Club, meaning all non-season ticket holders will pay €12 to get in, and season tickets a reduced €8. Keep an eye out on www.twitter.com/cdtorrevieja_en and local Facebook buy and sell groups for more information.
