DRAWING IN THE RAIN!

Valladollid 2 Elche 2
The rain in Spain poured mainly on the already-saturated pitch at the Jose Zorilla stadium as two teams well down La Liga fought it out for a honourable draw in the saturated end, but what a battle: both sides had their moments, but Elche will curse most after leading 0 – 2 with 25 minutes to go.

Both Elche full backs were out, Suarez suspended and Albacar still injured with the Romanian Sapuranu and Cisma deputising. Also out for Elche were centre back Lomban and striker Boakye, Peligrin and Manu ably standing in.

After only 15 minutes Carles Gil limped off to be replaced by Fidel, but Elche were playing well, and went ahead on the half hour. A long throw by Sapuranu was flicked on by Javi Marquez to Christian who slid the ball to Coro. Last years leading scorer slotted it home to the delight of the several hundred drenched Elche supporters who had made the long trip north.

It stayed 0 – 1 at the break, but after only five minutes into the second half Valladollid had a goal disallowed for offside, the home side increasing the pressure with Elche’s goalkeeper Tono pulling off several excellent saves.

On 65 minutes, and it has to be said against the run of play the Franjiverdes went two up. Fidel won a corner, Botia headed it back for Manu to score: the home sides heads went down and Elche could have scored two more which would have put the result well beyond Valladollid’s reach.

But substitute Osorio came on to inspire his team in the awful conditions and pulled one back with 20 long minutes left. Ten minutes later he did it again to home delirium, and Elche had to withstand tremendous pressure to hold out for a richly-deserved draw.

The point was helpful to both sides, but better for Elche keeping them four points clear of third-from-bottom Valladollid. Elche are now in a respectable 12th position in one of the world’s most competitive leagues with 15 games left.

On Friday this week at 9pm the Franjiverdes are unromantically at home in yet another six-pointer, this time against Osasuna who are also on 25 points. Another 1 – 0 Almeria-type result will do, and help Elche stay in top-flight football next season – after taking 26 years to get back there.
Mucho Elche!

Filed under: http://www.theleader.info/article/42550/

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