Clowns are a key part of Carnaval season, normally in red wigs and baggy pants but CD Tenerife players and fans were dismayed to find one with a referee’s shirt and a whistle. It’s difficult to imagine how a match official could be so bad in every aspect of his job but this guy was hopeless right from the off but despite everything CD Tenerife showed great character to grab a late 1-0 win over Getafe B.
The run of three straight wins and Santa Cruz Carnaval fever put us all in an expectant mood, crowd costumes were as colourful and imaginative as ever and a lively start saw Chechu cut in from the right to squeeze his shot off the post in the first minute. Perona only lasted seven minutes before going off injured, his replacement Kiko had one of his worst game, putting two headed chances wide and struggling to make any real impact. Loro has been an inspirational play maker but he was closely marked and bundled over repeatedly by the visitors with no protection from the ref. Despite that blind spot, the ref reacted to every over dramatic fall and writhing response from Getafe, all very frustrating.
The second half started with Getafe growing in confidence and taking the game to Tenerife. As CDT worked their way back into the play Kiko couldn’t break through the visiting defence and Chechu’s early raids fizzled out. Kike (below) was a little terrier but he also picked out for close attention, a 60th minute mugging left him on his back but was ignored by the ref. Coach Garcia Tebar tried to inject some urgency into the attack by bringing on Aridane for Marcos but he was unconvincing. At the other end Getafe went close, flashing a shot just past the post. Tacon was the last change, replacing the fading Chechu, just after a loose ball fell perfectly for Kiko but his footwork was slow and clumsy and the chance was wasted.
Aridane found the target but was called offside then Kitoko went down with a bad injury and was helped off and down the tunnel with no hope of return, early reports suggest a groin problem will sideline him for the rest of the season. The ten men became nine after 82 minutes, Tarantino already had a yellow but went out of his way to foul his opponent and paid the price. The game was still up for grabs and spurred on by the 9,424 crowd Tenerife pushed for a winner and were rewarded with an 88th minute penalty that Loro converted. Garcia and the Getafe coach had a flare up with the ref and both got red cards, just for good measure he even gave one to back up goalie Razak – poor bloke hasn’t even played any league minutes yet.
The ref conjured up six minutes of injury time, long enough to deny a Getafe goal amid heated exchanges that saw Seiz and Hugo join the early shower club. Tenerife hung on for a just win and as the ref slinked off the party kicked into top gear among the fans, I was nearly suffocated between the large false breasts of a large chap wearing a bright wig – what a way to go. The aftermath of this extraordinary game will be felt in next weeks team selection headaches, but having overcome such adversity CD Tenerife deserve their reward of two free days to sample the delights of Carnaval.