Coulibaly fizzes the winner to sink Barco and Castellón

Real Balompédica Linense 1-0 CD Castellón

Author: Les McKee

When the fixture computer threw up Real Madrid Castilla followed by two sides relegated from La Liga Smartbank in Sabadell and Castellón there will not have been many who would have expected la Balona to bag seven points from a possible nine.

That’s exactly what has happened thanks to Romerito creating a side that has a mixture of flair and fight. A togetherness that links those in the stands to those on the pitch that is pulling punches that are knocking out opponents of a much bigger stature than the albinegros.

Romerito’s charges saw off the challenge of Castellón by a solitary goal. The goal came ten minutes into the second half when Antoñito’s shot from the edge was too hot for goalkeeper Álvaro Campos to handle. The Castellón skipper’s punch was poor with the ball fired straight back into the danger zone.

In the right place at the right time again was Aly Coulibaly who gathered, swivelled like an ice skater and shot. The effort took a deflection off Luna which sent the ball over the head of Campos and into the net.

This was a poor error for a goalkeeper of Campos’ experience. He should have tipped over for a corner or deflected the ball away from danger. Punching the ball down to the penalty spot was criminal and his crime was punished by the ever improving Coulibaly.

The fans of Balona cared not a jot for Campos’ misery as they jubilantly celebrated the second goal of the season from the Frenchman.

Interviewed after the game Coulibaly described himself as a box-to-box midfielder who is getting lucky in front of goal. I don’t believe this is luck as the class of Coulibaly had been spotted in his debut season and is now coming to fruition time and time again.

The game overall was pretty even with the key chance of the first half coming near the end when a powerful strike from the edge of the box by Castellón’s Mario Barco clipped the leg of Victor Mena. Nacho Miras was not fazed by the deflection diving with a strong arm that sent the ball flying over his cross bar.

Nacho Miras is a fantastic goalkeeper – even when he is rarely worked in a game when the decisive moment comes, he is ready and focused and continually delivers.

I firmly believe Coulibaly, Koroma and Nacho Miras can perform in La Liga Smartbank or higher. Let’s hope they get the chance to show their talent in La Liga Smartbank for La Recia next season.

Soon after Balona had the lead Mario Barco found himself in troubled waters. After a tangle in the box he saw red mist and butted Fran Morante. The referee gave him a straight red. Barco had already been booked earlier in the game. This was crazy from the Castellón forward but even though they were now a man light Escobar’s side were far from done.

Once again it became a test of Balona’s game management and Romerito’s side delivered once again. Castellón were restricted to taking pot shots from distance that failed to trouble Nacho Miras.

On the occasions when Balona broke away they failed to create anything clear cut. A couple of half chances were created, Gerard Oliva firing wide with a chance he will feel he could have done more with.

Pablo Hernández, formerly of Leeds United and Valencia, was trying to lift his side. Several times during the game he was pinging balls from flank-to-flank but his team mates did not seem to be on his level on this day. A work in progress.

As the clock ticked into the third and final minute of injury time Castellón won a corner. Up came Campos and with the corner played short and returned to the taker the cross came in. Campos try as he might could not get his head on the ball and Balona cleared. With that the referee blew the whistle and brought the game to its close.

Another home victory against a team with more resources than Balona. Another alert put out to the division that Balona can battle and Balona can play.

Next up it’s the derby as Algeciras make the short journey to La Línea. Algeciras were on the receiving end of a 4-0 defeat away at Cornella at the weekend.

Defeating Algeciras would be another huge scalp for Balona having lost the game in the dying embers last time Algeciras came to town.

Masllorens, Mena, Koroma, Coulibaly, Loren and Nacho Miras were all involved in a defeat which ultimately sent Algeciras to the promotion play-offs. The singing of the Algeciras side that day echoed round Bar Balona and it’s not a sound we will want to hear again.

This Balona side has already shown a bigger stomach for the fight and will be ready to go again at the weekend.

They say that form goes out the window in a derby and Algeciras will be hoping that’s the case because if this derby goes to form – the singing will be coming from Real Balompédica Linense’s dressing room. 

Date & Time: Sunday 12^th 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.