Victory for CD Jávea secures third place, the highest position for almost two decades
The victory was not without its incidents, especially with a noisy and boisterous travelling contingent.
Friday 11th June 2021 – XÀBIA AL DÍA and MIKE SMITH
CD Jávea 4-1 CD Pedreguer
CD Jávea secured third place after thrashing local rivals CD Pedreguer at the Campo d’Esports Municipal, a position that would have secured a promotion play-off spot in a normal campaign, but the club misses out this season due to the reduced groups forced by the pandemic.
It is the highest position that CD Jávea have reached for almost decades; back in 2003, they finished runners-up to Hercules CF ‘B’ but didn’t complete the journey after losing to SD Sueca in the play-offs. It is a valiant effort in a season dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic – reduced groups, a later start to the campaign, and then a complete suspension due to a rise in the infection spread during the winter. And it promises much for next season if this squad can be kept together over the summer.
CD Pedreguer made the short journey to the coast knowing that a win would ease their relegation worries. However, despite Jávea having played a game just 48 hours earlier, they failed to secure those valuable points and head into the last game of the season having to win against champions-elect CFI Alicante.
Jávea applied pressure from the start and went into the lead through Juli on just 11 minutes, the young midfielder smashing a powerful shot into the net after some great work by Carlos down the right flank. At first, the goal failed to discourage Pedreguer, and they pushed and had their own chances to score, first through Jordi, his point-blank shot well-saved by Josep, before Abel saw his effort fly high and wide of the goal.
The second goal came just before half-time after some excellent play between Álvaro and Carlos saw the latter hit home to make it 2-0. The goal was not without incident as Carlos was shown a yellow card for over-exuberance and then a visiting fan spat at the player, forcing the referee to call on the authorities to remove the person from the ground.
In the second-half, Pedreguer had a golden chance to reduce the arrears but Josep was on hand to block the shot before Carlos almost made it three for the home team with a powerful shot that went just wide of the goal.
The visitors fought bravely and were rewarded on 81 minutes when Miguel Mut pulled one back for Pedreguer and they pushed further up to field looking for an equaliser and, possibly, the winner that might allay their relegation fears. But they had left themselves open to attack and Javi Hernandez was able to make it 3-1 on 82 minutes with a free-kick that hit the bar, dropped down and rebounded into the net off the keeper’s back.
Just before the final whistle, Álvaro made it 4-1. Pedreguer had dominated the second half against a tiring Jávea side but couldn’t find their form in front of a goal that was well-defended by Josep. Eight goals in two games for Jávea and a third place finish. Under the circumstances, that’s not a bad week’s work.
CD JÁVEA: Josep, Paolo, Soler (Piñero), Ayoze, Campayo (Fran), Molina (Marcos), Obele (Guerrero), Carlos (Luis Carlos), Juli, Javi y Álvaro.
CE PEDREGUER: José Violero, Miquel, Jaume, Jordi (Pepe), Borja Martínez (Mondéjar), Iván (Miralles), Carles, Alex Gayá, Abel (Joel), Sergio Quesada (Serra) y Axel.
GOALS: 1-0. 11m Juli. 2-0; 41m Carlos. 2-1; 80m Miquel Mut; 3-1. 88m Javi Hernández; 4-1. 93m Álvaro López.
REFEREE: Pablo de la Serna
Cautions: Obele, Carlos, Campayo, Álvaro, Piñero (CD Jávea) Jaume, Gayá, Jordi, Joel (CE Pedreguer) Pedreguer’s Gauchi was sent off from the bench.
