MATCH REPORT | CD Jávea 3-0 CE Alberic Sucemat

Monday 3rd April 2023
Mike Smith with Xàbia AL DÍA

The Julio Revolution continues at CD Jávea as the club bids to claim a top eight spot and a place in the inaugural Lliga Comunitat next season with the rojiblancos battling against a resolute side from Alberic to eventually carve out a 3-0 victory in front of a passionate home support.

The game was frenetic and somewhat bad-tempered at times with no less than ten yellow cards shown by referee Asier Romero, the majority of which were waved by the official during the second-half. The creation of the new regional tier has added an additional competition in the league between those who have no hope of challenging the top three and, as the season draws to a close, that determination has become a passion.

The home side dominated much of the first half although opportunities on goal were few, restricted to a snatched volley from Marcos which sailed well over the bar and another low and powerful shot from the defender from 20 yards which went side.

At the other end, Alberic’s Campus went down a little too easily inside the area but the referee waved away passionate calls for a penalty before stopping the game to allow attention to be given to the unmoving player laid out on the grass who turned out to be fine.

On 34 minutes, Jávea got the opening goal in spectacular fashion, the first of three wonderful goals of the match. Some great work by Tomás down the right flank resulted in a lower powerful cross into the centre which Javi converted with a powerful half-volley beyond the keeper at full-stretch to nestle in the bottom left corner of the net.

Just before the break, Alberic’s Hector almost levelled the scores with a powerful shot which Tonet appeared to palm onto the bar; the ball rebounded into a packed area where there was a bit of pushing and shoving before Alberic’s Campus fell dramatically to the ground again, miraculously recovering when the referee once again waved away appeals for a penalty.

The second half continues in similar dramatic fashion as tempers rose in response to a number of mistimed tackles and the odd push and shove off the ball. The home crowd also played its part, encouraging their players whilst also getting into the heads of the opponents.

Four minutes in and Alberic’s Aaron broke free from the attention of Tomás and fired a shot from a tight angle which flew across the face of goal with keeper Tonet beaten but the ball flew just wide of the far post, much to the relief of the home side. The visitors had another chance to level the scores on the hour mark when a bold counter-attack split a flat-footed defence to allow Navarro to get off a low shot with Tonet well-blocked. On 71 minutes, Alberic’s Hector smashed the ball into the side-netting. Things were looking decidedly shaky for the home side.

The second-half degenerated into a bad-tempered kicking match, especially on behalf of the visitors. Yellow cards were shown in an attempt to calm down the players. There was even some bizarre pointing at the home fans by several Alberic players.

As the game drew to an inclusion, Jávea found the strength to put the game beyond doubt. Three minutes into added time, Luis García scored a wonderful goal to make it 2-0, a powerful shot at the end of some great footwork as the youngster twisted and turned through the defence. Two minutes later, a third goal as Luis García smashed home from ten yards to spark superb celebrations on the pitch and in the stands whilst the referee blew for full-time.

The final whistle sparked bizarre scenes for whilst the Jávea players celebrated the goal, two Alberic players scaled the fence to confront home fans in the main stand; there was little more than a few words exchanged and fingers pointed but clearly the defeat and banter got to a few naive heads. It is understood that the referee took note of the incident but it is not known if there will be repercussions.

After the Easter break, CD Jávea will travel to bottom club Muro CF who lost 0-4 at Dénia to remain rooted at the bottom of the table. With the rojiblancos now just four points off the top eight, a victory would place them in a decent position to claim a place in the inaugural Lliga Comunitat.

Why is a top eight spot important?

In October 2022, the 55 clubs of the Regional Preferente voted to create a new regional tier – the Lliga Comunitat – which will become the highest division in the Comunidad Valenciana and will consist of two groups of 16 teams. It will begin next season – 2023-2024 – and will be the feeder division into the Tercera Federación, the bottom tier of the national pyramid system. The group winners would win automatic promotion whilst the second and third placed teams in each group would play-off for the remaining two spots. The bottom three in each group will be relegated to the Primera FFCV.

The current Regional Preferente will become the Primera FFCV and consist of four groups as it does now. The group winners would win automatic promotion to the Lliga Comunitat whilst the two remaining spots will be claimed by the winners of the play-offs between the runners-up in each group. The bottom three in each group will be relegated to the Segona FFCV. The bottom tier will be renamed Tercera FFCV.

In order to form the two groups of the Lliga Comunitat, it was agreed that the top eight teams of the current four groups of the Regional Preferente would qualify, except those four teams who win promotion to the Tercera Federación through the end-of-season play-offs; they will be replaced by those teams relegated from the higher division.