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MATCH REPORT No. 1 2007/08
Sunday 2nd September 2007
CD JAVEA 1 PINOSO CF 0
Author: Mike Smith

CD JAVEA got off to the best possible start to the campaign with a difficult home win against Pinoso CF at the Municipal Stadium. A second-half strike from Juanito sealed the victory and placed the rojiblancos amongst the early front-runners, although cheers of "we're gonna win the league" might be somewhat premature with one game completed! As pre-season suggested, coach Kenny Brown and his team have put together an exciting team that might well compete favourably this campaign and, whilst this performance was not one of the best, the team showed the fight and will to win a difficult encounter.

It was obviously very early in the game that Pinoso were for the taking. A scratch squad with many players honed from the reserves and youth squads, they started the match with little confidence and very few ideas to break down the resilient back-line of the rojiblancos. Yet Javea could not afford to be too complacent and the visitors soon warned that they might not be quite the push-overs that first impression suggested. Defender Noel went close with a 20-yard snatched shot which blazed just wide of the left-hand upright. Minutes later skipper Fernando had a difficult shot well-saved by man-of-the-match keeper Ortolá.

Javea needed to take control of the game, especially in midfield, and captain Jose Luis and the tenacious Ruben Pla, making his return to the club, battled solidly in the centre of the park. A superb series of passes through the middle almost produced an opener but striker Juanito was hauled down the Raul - many thought inside the box - and the home side were awarded a free-kick some 20 yards out; Carlos Ribes, making his long-awaited debut, sent the kick just wide of the right post.

The second-half brought some urgency from Kenny Brown's team. Pinoso appeared to be tiring quickly and winger Puncho was taking advantage of a lack of pace out on the flanks, going close to opening the scoring with a snatched effort from just inside the area. The game battled fiercely in midfield and there were bound to be casualties. Skipper Jose Luis went down in agony midway through the period and was stretchered off the pitch, much to the disappointment of the modest home crowd; the ever-smiling Chili made his debut from the bench and the side was shuffled a little to accommodate.

With 15 minutes to go, Javea finally broke the deadlock. Juanito and Javi had been combining well up front and a little exchange of passes found the former in plenty of space to allow him to charge through almost unchallenged and blast the wall just to the right of the diving keeper. The former Vilajoyosa striker was immediately mobbed by his team-mates whilst the home crowd celebrated the first goal of the season with gusto and plenty of confetti.

The rojiblancos might have doubled their advantage five minutes later when Ruben Pla looked to have been rewarded for his hard work with a goal but his effort was judged to have been offside. For the remaining ten minutes it was Javea all the way and Pinoso worked their socks off in defence to keep the score down to one. Carlo was brought on for Puncho, two popular players at the club whilst tall striker Alex Cuadrado came on for Javi with seconds remaining. Pinoso pushed hard for an equaliser and won a free-kick just outside the area with the home crowd baying for the final whistle. The rojiblancos blocked the tame effort and the referee finally brought to a close an encounter that should have been wrapped up for Javea long before the break. However one can't grumble too much about maximum points in the first game of the season and the smiles around the ground at the final whistle suggested that the vast majority were happy to see the rojiblancos maintain an unbeaten streak that now stretches to seven games.