dudleyhatter
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Post by dudleyhatter on Feb 5, 2022 21:05:00 GMT
Well sorry for the lack of midweek update post match. The Spanish style 8:30pm kick off made things feel a little late, not at all linked to the alcohol consumed during the game…. Anyway on to the match, Torre del Mar (I’ll leave the translation of this to you guys) is a town maybe 30 on along the coast, they brought decent numbers of fans (ie more than 10!) but were six places and seven points behind the mighty Paleños. Like the Sunday before when we played a five game winning Marbella they appeared to be little between the teams. In fact there was little but n the match at all. We tried to play out from the back and they pressed high and hard on the ball hence we resorted to hitting it long. They then returned it with a real hard welly back again! The principal of my school, who I have converted into a Paleño said after ten minutes this is one of those games when they score a scrappy goal and hold on. On thirty three minutes Torre Del Mar won a free kick maybe thirty five yards out, lofted in towards the edge of the box and actually a really nice chip over the keeper saw them score what you know was going to be the winner. Half time rolled up with two goal line clearances to deny us the only points of interest. They had produced nothing else of interest… yeah you know how this story ends! We were playing with two wingers really hugging the touch line for the whole half. Unfortunately they didn’t actually move infield and rarely even called for the ball. As a result we appeared to be constantly outnumbered. Surely the second half we would make a tactical change and take them to the cleaners. But this is football… a half time change did see my hero Pepe Capitán take to the field in an attempt to connect the defence and attack which had sadly been much too distant in the first period. More importantly Pepe had been given the captain’s armband. My hero, my captain. Huffing and puffing did not help, nor did losing two players to stand out on the periphery.
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Post by hatter_in_macc on Feb 5, 2022 21:08:43 GMT
Can't win 'em all, Duds but great report, all the same. And Olé Pepe!
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dudleyhatter
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Post by dudleyhatter on Feb 5, 2022 21:13:42 GMT
The next day disaster struck, for me anyway. My hero has left the club, what will I do? At least I got to see Pepe Capitán as capitán one time. Roll onto today and we have an opportunity to close the gap as the only team near the top playing on Saturday. Like County we were playing bottom of the table and the most distant as Melilla are based in Morocco (the Spanish part..just like Gibraltar is ‘British’) unlike County we made easy work of the game scoring four unanswered goals to move us to the fringe of the playoffs. Annoyingly had we won on Wednesday we would be sitting in third place! We play hector’s tractor (Huetor Tajar) on Wednesday and they are currently in fourth… come on Palo
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Post by hatter_in_macc on Feb 5, 2022 21:22:13 GMT
The next day disaster struck, for me anyway. My hero has left the club, what will I do? At least I got to see Pepe Capitán as capitán one time. Nooooo...!
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Post by gazz on Feb 5, 2022 21:22:22 GMT
Excellent updates, Duds and a fantastic result for the boys today!
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dudleyhatter
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Post by dudleyhatter on Feb 10, 2022 9:03:14 GMT
Another midweek special against a side higher in the league Hector’s boys came to the Nuevo San Ignacio having won two drawn two and lost two in the last six, compared to our won three lost three. Anything could happen!
Before the report some sad news to report. The club president, who got sent to the stands in the previous match with Marbella, died suddenly on Tuesday. Before the game there was a presentation on the pitch and speech from his daughter which ended with ‘Viva el Presidente’ followed by a minute’s silence.
Onto the game and a cagey opening in which we flashed a header wide and they struggled to create any clear cut openings. Then on thirty three minutes a free kick from outside the right corner of the penalty box, shot or cross? Do we have anyone capable of shooting? In came the shot, back off the bar and down into the six yard box, follow up blocked by the keeper, finally turned home by Mode from close range. Celebration involved pointing up to El presidente in the sky and and a team huddle. Four minutes before half time and the ball fell nicely just outside the box for Heutor Tajar and their midfielder unleashed a superb effort into the corner one all at the break.
Second half was played much more in their half and we created a number of half chances with some good football when we realised that we could actually pass to each other. Finally on sixty a eight minutes Nacho Aranda was there to guide home a super cross from the right wing with his head. Cue more celebrations and a text from my girlfriend, ‘I just heard gooooolllllll!’ We held on relatively safely although the ref played seven of the four minutes of added time. We are now in sixth but only one point off third in the table.
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dudleyhatter
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Post by dudleyhatter on Feb 10, 2022 9:05:03 GMT
And here is a tweet from the club showing El Presidente celebrating with the players previously. DEP (Descanso en Paz)
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Post by gazz on Feb 10, 2022 12:14:48 GMT
Very sad news regarding the club president, Duds, my condolences to his family, friends and everyone involved with the club - the boys did him proud with that all-important win.
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Post by hatter_in_macc on Feb 11, 2022 0:29:11 GMT
Another great report/result, Duds. And RIP, el Presidente.
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dudleyhatter
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Post by dudleyhatter on Feb 23, 2022 17:34:43 GMT
Something of a time lag on reports from the sun at the moment! On Sunday 13th we hosted relegation zone Alhaurín (de La Torre) home of my best friend from work to whom I obviously sent lots of abusive messages about incoming defeat and pain. Yes you know what comes next. 0-1. A game that was at times almost too painful to watch. We were the better side but just did nothing with it. A couple of flashes across the goal and a last minute effort cleared off the line (according to the lino!). Still lots of passing across and back without enough movement up front or in the middle… The evening was made more interesting though by spending the second half talking to two Swedish guys! I had heard them shouting abuse in Scandinavian in the first half and at half time they inquired about my scarf (the one my father didn’t wear but I lie about at Edgeley Park!). They are Malmo fans and had come over to Marbella to watch a few pre-Swedish season warm up games for Malmo. They had watched a game with Malmo the day before and said that the standard of the El Palo game was higher than they had been watching. They loved being at a community club like El Palo. Pity about the result. Fortunately my friend is not a big football fan so I didn’t get too much grief!
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dudleyhatter
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Post by dudleyhatter on Feb 23, 2022 17:42:42 GMT
Last Sunday we made the trip to deepest darkest Jaén province to Torredonjimeno a town of 12,500 hardy souls. It was not by all accounts (and there are very few to find!) a good day at the office. 3-0 at half time surely things would improve… yes! We got it back to 3-2 that cruel beast called hope popped up to be burst spectacularly by a fourth for the hosts. Final result 4-2.
Still only two points off the playoffs but two wins would have seen us in second and not eighth place. Hope still burns. As for this weekends game I’m out of town for a few days so I will be missing my first home game of the season. Fingers crossed
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Post by hatter_in_macc on Feb 23, 2022 17:55:29 GMT
Thanks for the updates, Duds. If they win without you there this weekend, you know what to do...
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Post by gazz on Feb 24, 2022 15:17:41 GMT
Cheers, Duds, good luck to the boys this weekend!
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dudleyhatter
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Post by dudleyhatter on Feb 26, 2022 10:04:52 GMT
Currently on the bus heading towards a short break up the coast, we have just gone past a place called Motril. I have seen it previously on the map and thought, “I know that name, but why?” With nothing else to do I have been doing some research after 15 minutes and a lot of head scratching and wondering if it was to do the with the 1804 earthquake that killed two people or perhaps the sugar came industry (that no longer exists!). Having disappeared into the Spanish Cantonal revolution of 1873 and got distracted somewhat I eventually discovered
It is twinned with Marple! I guess I must have seen the signs welcome to Marple twinned with Motril many times during my youthful explorations from Hazel Grove!
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Post by bringbacklenwhite on Feb 26, 2022 11:06:18 GMT
MARPLE -- just a few stops down the road from New Mills.
Learning to swim in the ruddy cold baths and a short hop visit to the cinema. Football on Brabyns Park.
Marple was posh (so we thought)
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