Excelente, excelente, excelente, gracias amigos. Como se lo he dicho antes, no se lo que paso dentro del vestuario tras el debacle en Finestrat y la vuelta del ‘Titanic’ pero la diferencia es enorme y el nivel de fútbol es una autentica maravilla. De repente se ha perdido el miedo y el nerviosismo, ha vuelto la confianza y aunque esperábamos por mucho tiempo por el segundo gol creamos más que una docena de ocasiones de gol y merecimos totalmente los tres puntos. Sin embargo, ¡empezamos con una sorpresa!

Few will know what happened after the defeat at Finestrat 2 weeks ago but UD Altea have turned full circle and played a spineless Albatera off the park yesterday writes Matthew Bell. No less than 16 chances were created as Altea played without their customary fear and at times evoked memories of Brazil in 1970, well almost! Suddenly the mood in the camp is upbeat not least as rumours sweep the town of big changes at the club and as someone party to the negotiations all I can say is keep an eye on the Costa Blanca’s finest website www.udaltea.info – beware of cheap imitations!

Coach Carrete’s inbred caution has been cast aside & Altea are playing the way they should have done from January onwards. Barely 10 minutes had elapsed and Chole, Manu & Marin had all missed golden opportunities before captain Miramar fired over from 25 yards. Diego Domenech was looking as sharp as we had always suspected & his intelligence & movement was a constant thorn in the side of the visitors. The pressure was relentless & with the half time break looming an astute lob from Manu saw Diego bravely diving in and heading home from 6 yards (1-0, 38 mins). The advantage was the least the home side deserved but mention must be made of Tomas’ wonder save from the excellent Juanfran moments before the break. In 5 years of Preferente addiction I will never see a better save, a full length instinctive parry from the best goalie in the league. Period.

No doubt Carrete tore into the lads for such an excellent and attractive first half and the players wisely chose to ignore the usual defensive claptrap and continued to pass the ball well and move into space. Again many chances were spurned & one wonders what the score would have been if the suspended Angel had been playing or if Altea had managed to unearth a right winger of quality (hint, R.Parra C/O CD Polop). The cloud to the silver lining was the injury to Diego Domenech and was replaced by the prolific Carrasco. All the time the lead was only by the single goal with Manu being particularly profligate but he never gives up and on 88 minutes he broke free to double the lead and ensure the 3 points for the home team.