Date & Time: Sunday 12th September 2021 – 17:00
Competition: Primera RFEF Grupo II
Venue: Estadio Municipal de La Línea
Author: Les McKee
After picking up a draw with a valiant performance in Sabadell last weekend, Balona will welcome CD Castellón to La Linea for matchday 3 of the new PrimeraRFEF season.
There has certainly been a buzz amongst Leeds fans on the Costa del Sol about the visit of Castellón as they signed Pablo Hernández in the summer. Despite being 36 years old Hernández showed his class coming off the bench to score in Castellón’s opening day defeat to Albacete.
Leeds fans are expected to be in attendance to see the player who was pivotal in their return to the Premier League under Marcelo Bielsa. During his time at Elland Road he scored 36 goals and provided 41 assists in 175 appearances.
There is no doubting the danger he possesses. Victor Mena and Josué Dorrio on the left-hand side for Balona will need to double up on him on occasions on Sunday. Dorrio and Mena were both excellent against Sabadell overlapping each other on numerous occasions to create an attacking threat. Against Castellón we will want to see them continue in this vein, but it may be tempered with the potential for Hernández to hurt Balona in the blink of an eye.
Castellón have the second biggest stadium in group II and are expected to be challenging for promotion this season. They put that Albacete disappointment behind them on matchday 2 running out 2-0 winners at home to Sevilla Atlético.
On that occasion Bilal Kandoussi scored the opener and David Cubillas added the second with a towering header at the back post. Given that the only goal conceded by Balona this season was a header at the backpost should Cubillas play Morante and Loren will need to watch for the big striker exploiting any space between the two on their side.
Mario Barco has started both games up top for Castellón but may find his ship has sailed this Sunday with Cubillas scoring as a substitute last weekend.
Álvaro Campos, the experienced goalkeeper, will once again captain Sergi Escobar’s side. Now in his fourth season with Castellón the former Cádiz CF stopper will be buoyed by his clean sheet last weekend.
Escobar is in his second spell in charge of the club having previously been in charge back in 2017-18. On that occasion Escobar led the team to promotion from Tercera to Segunda B. He will have designs on another promotion push this year.
For the second week in a row Balona find themselves facing a side who were relegated from La Liga Smartbank last season. The relegated sides get compensated to the tune of 1.5m euros. That is a budget Romerito can only dream of.
So once again it’s David v Goliath but as Balona have shown in both games so far, the role of David suits the team just fine. This fact is not lost on Escobar who mentioned the work rate and intensity of Balona in his pre-match press conference.
He also praised Coulibaly, Koroma and Ñito González. This will be a very emotional occasion for the skipper following the passing of his grandfather this week. There is no doubt La Recia will rally round the captain at this sad time.
The fans were impactful in the opening day victory over Real Madrid Castilla. The buzz generated when Koroma and Coulibaly get possession saw both players puff their chests out and they were instrumental in carrying the team to victory. The same again is needed from both on Sunday.
Gerard Oliva and Dorrio’s work rate at Sabadell was top drawer and I can see both players leaving everything they have on the pitch once more. Loren’s emergence as a right back is a work in progress and Balona will expect another big performance from the hometown boy.
It’s yet another intriguing encounter. For the third game in a row Balona are the underdogs. As we’ve seen so far this season these underdogs are prepared to take a bite out of the big boys.
PEÑA PICHIGÜEY 