Trail of the Lion King

With the Madrid trip done and our five weeks in Spain drawing to a close I took the opportunity to squeeze in a couple more games on the day before we headed back to the UK for Christmas. The first was a morning fixture about an hour’s drive away to the south for a fourth-tier game at La Union.

I was early enough to have a pre-match wander around but there wasn’t much going on other than locals meeting up for a coffee or a beer and some small town yapping.

The Estadio Municipal de la Union dates back to 1973 and can accommodate 3,000 spectators. With tickets costing fifteen euros a pop, I doubted very much that we’d get anywhere near a capacity crowd, even in a place with little else to do at that time of day.

I was right in my assumption that there wouldn’t be too many people attending. A few young lads lined up against the barrier on the near side, whilst most people wandered across to the four-row concrete terracing on the far side. There was little shade for a mid-day fixture though and it was one of those rare occasions where I thought that wearing a hat might have been the sensible thing to do.

I’d seen the visiting team, Estepona, at the back end of the previous season. At that time, they’d been pushing for a play-off spot. It obviously hadn’t worked out as they’d hoped as here they were, one season on, still playing at the same level. There wasn’t much to note in the first half apart from a few ropey tackles and some over the top appealing that was usually accompanied by gesturing for a card or two to be given.

Estepona took the lead ten minutes into the second half with a shot from the edge of the box that sneaked in at the foot of a post. It might even have come back off the upright and in off the keeper’s bonce. Understandably he was furious about it as, less understandably, were a few of the fellas near me.

La Union finished up with ten men when one of their players picked up a second yellow for showing his frustration at the timewasting. Estepona continued to drag everything out though and successfully ran down the clock to take the points.

Tags: hat weather, small town yapping

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