Outplayed and outgunned, CD Marino were fortunate to limit second placed Atletico Las Palmas to a 0-3 victory as they opened 2016 at home. There were selection problems with midfielder Kilian missing and defender Bradley Mills out with a foot injury. Connor moved into midfield and Kevin Castro was also out of position as he had a torrid time in the right back slot.
Las Palmas B team were the most impressive visitors this season, former CD Tenerife B striker Jefte tortured Kevin Castro down the left wing and even when the Gran Canarian team lost Juanma, injured scoring the opening goal, his replacement, Martin, turned out to be another lethal striker. Marino made a bold start, Javi Marchena forced an early corner but it was wasted, new home forward Amad from Senegal showed some pace but fired too high after nearly 10 minutes.
Mendy had to be at his best to clear one of Las Palmas first attacks but they soon got into their stride and Juanma powered through the middle after 15 minutes to score but instead of celebrating he had to be helped off the pitch with a leg injury. Martin made an immediate impression and almost added a second goal but shot wide. Jefte was strong and confident and turned quickly to fire in a shot that Marko Cicovic did well to cover. It would have been a good day to turn on the style for a larger than usual holiday crowd but Las Palmas closed Marino down and restricted their build ups.
Mendy made a rare mistake on the half hour selling his keeper short with a back pass, Marko had to make a crunching tackle to stop a second goal from being poached. There was more work for the busy goalie to do a few minutes later, Jefte showed his power in the air as he headed down a cross that Marko covered well. The continued pressure paid off five minutes before the break, Borja cut in from the right and found plenty of space to make it 0-2. A late free kick held out some hope for Marino but they couldn’t turn it into a goal and went in with plenty to think about.
Marchena tried to carve out an opening down the left early after the restart but was squeezed out by two visiting defenders. Arsen replaced Josito but this time there was no first touch goal, though he did give the Las Palmas defence a few more problems as Amad dropped back a little deeper. Matias had an easy chance to increase the divide and surprisingly blasted thee ball wide, and Marko had to slide out to stop another away chance. Into the last 20 minutes and Martin put the result beyond question as he pounced to make it 0-3.
Kevin Castro gave in to his natural attacking instincts and tried to push up more, he headed close to the goal and forced another corner but heads were dropping a little. Sub Sandro wasn’t too far off with a wild long shot but Las Palmas still had plenty of their own ideas, their sub Pedro could have done better with two good chances. It was a tough lesson for Marino and they need to find their way back to picking up points. Amad looked like he could be useful once match fit and hopefully a couple more new signings will make a difference but it is going to be a tough 2016.