‘el muro azul y el triangulo

de las Bermudas’

Si yo fuera José Carrete estaría muy contento con esta victoria, tres puntos conseguidos contra un rival directo aunque un día podre entender como marcamos solo un tanto dado que tuviésemos nueve clarísimas ocasiones de gol. Como antes el entrenador Alteano aposto por el sistema de 4-4-1-1 lo cual me parece perfecto en los partidos a domicilio y nos llego el arranque perfecto como el meta local cometió un error garrafal (5’) de un lanzamiento de Chole y Marín tuvo la oportunidad de marcar desde plenamente 30 cm (0-1). Ya el Campello tuvo que enfrentarse al muro azul de Tomas, Gallego et al. El partido era bastante parecido a lo de Albatera mas temprano en la temporada, como los de la Villa Blanca dejaron al equipo local tener la mayoría de la posesión y buscar el segundo gol con el contragolpe. El sistema de Carrete funciono perfectamente y desde la grada/el bar el Altea me pareció tanto mas listo como mas peligroso con su manejo de la pelota dado el trabajo constante de Carrasco y la sutileza del imparable Chole. El centro del campo era una autentica batalla donde Nene y Marín taparon a todo y dieron equilibrio al resto del equipo. Poco antes del descanso un pase magistral de Marín dio a Carrasco una ocasión de puro oro aunque fallo mismo que Chole con su disparo semanal desde 40 metros.

‘The blue wall’

This may not have been the prettiest victory seen on the Iberian Peninsula but there is no doubting its importance as Jose Carrete’s inform team face up to a daunting fixture schedule writes Matthew Bell. The victory may have been a narrow one but do not let this cloud the fact that this was a one-sided rout and quite how Altea did not win by three or four goals is something that will puzzle me for weeks. Mention must be made of the travelling hordes of Altea fans who packed the buses provided for them and were met with great hospitality by the locals; evidently aware of the reputation of the visitors where making friends across the Costa Blanca is a clear priority.

Altea would get off to the perfect start as midfield magician Chole sent a 30 yard free kick fizzing toward the goal only for the ‘keeper to spill the ball leaving Marin the task of netting the rebound from fully 30 centimetres. For the vocal travelling contingent we now saw what the Spaniards call ‘una pelicula ya visto’ as Carrete’s men retreated and allowed the home side the majority of the possession, although Tomas was rarely troubled as the protective shield of Nene & Marin kept chances to a minimum. After the lively Tonet tested the Altean goalie with a fine header, Chole tried to reprise his 40 yard epic of the week before although this time the ‘keeper was able to tip the effort over the bar. As the half time break loomed, Marin slipped a delightful ball through to Carrasco who decided to cross the ball when a shot was clearly the better option. It was a bad miss and Carrete’s face showed it, although it would set the tone for the second half.

The second half continued in the same vein, el Campello tried everything they had but it was obviously going to take something special to breach the blue-shirted Altean back line. Tomas would have to be alert for a couple of free kicks and long range efforts but the home side looked incapable of breaking through where the resolute Bazaga and the peerless Christian reigned supreme. As the game became ever more stretched it would be Altea that would be the more likely to score as the outstanding Angel gave the home right back a harrowing 90 minutes. Chance after chance came from his cultured left foot, particularly when Pascual and Manu (twice) managed to fluff their lines from the six yard line. This year’s star turn Christian evidently decided that since the forwards were incapable of scoring he would try himself, and after reprising Maradona in his prime and beating practically the entire el Campello team over 75 yards he promptly missed from the Bermuda Triangle of the six yard box. There was still time for el Campello to mount a couple of sporadic attacks but the win was deserved, the only flies in the ointment being the injury to Pascual and the sending off of the genial Chole. The latter in particular took some of the shine off the win, if there is a better player in the league I have not seen him, and his absence against the league leaders Horadada next week is a terrible blow. For full details of this crunch game check the excellent website www.udaltea.info.

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