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 The
play-offs disappeared into the distance
after a miserable home defeat to Muro CF, writes Mike
Smith for www.javeamigos.com. Missing
three key players through suspension, CD
Javea took to the field with a make-shift
defence featuring striker Scott in an unfamilar
role alongside Ochando. Yet, with Javi in
midfield, assumingthe captaincy in the absence
of Juanma, and Juanito making a rare start
up front, the rojiblancos still looked fairly
strong on paper. But Muro arrived at the
Municipal Stadium boasting six wins from
the last seven games and were still on course
to claim a promotion play-off spot. With
Canals having leapfrogged them in the table
after crushing Oliva 3-0 the previous day,
the visitors were keen to claim maximum
points and take advantage of Beniganim's
defeat at Alberic.
The
atmosphere in the stand was good-natured in
the early evening sunshine, a pleasant change
to the run of wet weather that has plagued
home games this season. As a consequence,
the attendance was up markedly on previous
games. However, as has always been the case
this season, the fans had to wait to see
which team would turn up, the one that defeated
Olimpic and Beniganim (twice) or the one
that capitulated to Guadassuar and Carlet.
In this case, it would be that latter.
Although
neither side created much in the nature
of real action, it was Javea who just couldn't
quite get out of first gear. That said,
Juanito came very close to putting the home
side into the lead after 11 minutes when
he broke clear for a 1-on-1 with the keeper
but he blasted his effort into the chest
of the custodian. Five minutes later Alex
almost gave Muro the lead but his powerful
header was well-saved on the line by Ruibberiz.
After
a shaky start, Scott was fitting into his
role in the centre of defence fairly well,
his obvious dominance in the air vindicating
Kenny Brown's decision to cover for the
suspended Juanma. However you could sense
that something would give with the relative
inexperience in the back-line and it finally
did on the half-hour mark when Marc nodded
home from a free-kick on the right side
to give the away side the lead. Ten minutes
later Nacho doubled the advantage with a
powerful free-kick from 20 yards, the award
of which sparked much dismay from players
and fan alike. Carlos Ribes stood his ground
close to the edge of the area as the Muro
player smashed into him. Whilst it can be
argued that the free-kick might have been
awarded for obstruction, it was obvious
to everyone except the referee that the
Muro player deliberately crashed into Carlos;
the day would not get any better for the
midfielder.
The
second-half were fairly uneventful but for
another dodgy decision from the man
in the middle. Some great work from Carlos
Ribes on the right-hand side saw the midfielder
put in a perfect cross into the area. Muro's
Campos attempted to clear but sliced his
effort towards goal where Juanito, albeit
in an offside position if one of his team-mates
had made the pass, slotted home. The effort
was judged to have been offside - it's quite
possible that Juanito was offside
but the ball came off a defender. It was
a close decision and Carlos Ribes engaged
in discussion with the linesman on the far
side, perhaps a little too emotionally for
the officials. Handed a straight red card,
Javea were reduced to ten man and had an
enormous task ahead of them.
Muro
played the ball around the park with confidence
but resorted to far too much play-acting,
despite the fact that they already had an
advantage. Meanwhile Javea were forced to
lob long ineffective balls from deep in
defence to try and find away through a resilient
defensive line. The game and atmosphere
petered out as the game stumbled to a conclusion.
Two minutes from the end, some more play-acting
from Muro brought out frustration from Pablo
and he received his second caution and a
red card which meant that the rojiblancos
played out the last two or three minutes
of the game with just nine men.
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