Sunday, September 27, 2009

Super Mario, an old friend and the shite referee.




Mario Fernandez, the elder of two American brothers Santa Pola had the good fortune to sign during the close season settled the third game of their regular season, diving in, as all decent strikers should do, amongst boots and bodies to connect with a free kick expertly headed on by central defender Hugo.

Try as they might, Pinoso gave it a good go, particularly in a bit of a one sided second half, but they came up just short and a single goal was enough to grab all three points for the home side as Santa Pola entered the third week of September unbeaten. Two wins and a scruffy goal-less draw were the sum total of their efforts, sufficient to hoist the Marineros into the top five of the classification.

The sub plot to a hard earned win was the return to Santa Pola of former coach Anselmo Serrano, a decent and knowledgeable football man quickly snapped up by Preferente rivals Pinoso. Dismissed by Santa Pola in March 2009 following an indifferent run of results, Serrano was greeted by fans and players alike with great warmth as he interrupted his match preparations to chat with old acquaintances and most of his former team.

In truth, little either coach attempted would have mitigated the dismal performance of match referee Sr. Antonio Andreu Sabuco. Beforehand, the Elche official pulled up in his big car and strutted about the place full of self importance, once under way though, he had the look of a rabbit caught in the full glare of a car headlights. The only thing he imposed upon the match was his own lack of authority. Cowering behind his yellow card, Sabuco would have struggled to maintain order at a whist drive.

On the upside, the long awaited new home kit finally found it's way to Santa Pola and the team took on an altogether more familiar appearance. I was beginning to think those ghastly pink things would be permanent.



Full time Santa Pola 1 - 0 Pinoso
PHOTO: Not Super Mario or an old friend

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