IMORTAL FOOTBALL CLUB ALBUFEIRA

LOULETANO B 0 - 3 IMORTAL

As I said, described on the radio as a tranquil victory. Midfielder Diogo Luz opened the scoring in the 17th minute. It was one-nil to Imortal at half time. Pedro Rodrigues, captain and centre-back, added the second with a header from a cross ten minutes into the second half. That was his first of the season. Mauro Jose scored Imortal's third and his first of the season with 12 minutes remaining.

Thomas Nascimento missed his first league game of the season following a fifth yellow card collected in the previous match. A bit of a reshuffle ensued, but no worries it seems.

Team

Inacio; Pedro Rodrigues, Dragnez, Jose, Pedro Duarte; Coelho, Quiteque, Herlander Tome, Luz;  Mario Duarte, Ricardo Tome. Subs used : Alves, Antonio, Santos, Pimenta and Luis Silveira.

Dragnev and Pedro Duarte collected yellow cards. One of the Louletano players saw yellow after just two minutes. Four of his colleagues followed at various intervals.

Next for Imortal is a trip up to Messines, next Saturday at 1500hrs. I probably won't be able to go. The last bus on Saturdays back to Albufeira is at 1630!

IMORTAL 3 - 1 SILVES

An eventful match. One red card for each side before half an hour had been played and most of the match therefore played with ten men a side. Referee was very picky, 34 free kicks and several yellow cards.

Two excellent goals from Mario Duarte (aka Marocas) his first since the win on 1st November, plus one from Ricardo Tome (aka Ruca) who has now scored his last three goals after coming on as a sub.

Imortal started well, Duarte brought a fine save from the Silves 'keeper Lopes, but it was the visitors who took the lead on 21 minutes. A free kick in from the left went into a crowd of players almost on the goal-line. The ball hit a leg and deflected in past Inacio. We thought own goal, but the official record credits it to Miguel Costa.

Then came a silly five minutes. Imortal's combative midfielder Nascimento had been booked after 18 minutes, then clattered an opponent and saw yellow again. He was most reluctant to leave the field (much the same as Sr. Paqueta of West Ham on Sunday!) and he might well be in more trouble. He was followed into the early bath five minutes later by Silves' Mateus Vieira, who absolutely hacked down Walter Alves for his second yellow.

Things calmed down for a while after that, with just the one more yellow for the visitors. Almost on half time when Herlander Tome, who had been quiet, sped off down the right wing to deliver a perfect low cross to the near post, which Duarte met with a flick of the foot to send it over the line.

Tome nearly scored himself just before the interval, should have in fact. Alves beat two defenders to send in a perfect cross from the left which was smashed high and wide.

Tome missed another chance early in the second half, again set up by Alves but it wasn't long before Imortal took the lead. An excellent move down the left, a great through ball by Dragnev to Coelho, whose cross was met on the volley by Duarte six metres out. No chance for Lopes, who was reduced to waving his arms in total frustration.

The game became rather scrappy from then on. Neither side could control the ball long enough to create any decent moves. Alves managed to get himself booked after chasing an opponent for quite a distance before clipping his heels.

The midfield stalemate was broken on 70 minutes with Ruca's goal. A nice ball from Coelho down the middle, a well timed run by Ruca which broke the offside trap leaving him facing the goalie. A deft sidefoot took him out of the equation, leaving Ruca to roll the ball into an empty net.

Not much happened after that. Silves had run out of ideas, Imortal were content to keep possession and give them the run around.

A satisfying win which took Imortal to the top of the table following defeat for Quarteirense that evening.

No game for Imortal next week. Next one on 13th December will be away at Louletano B, on the second pitch in the town. a grim place and one to which I cannot go. In fact there will be no home game for Imortal until 3rd January, an important one with Quarteirense being the visitors.  Imortal will be away also on 20th December, up in Messines.

Imortal team : Inacio; Prates, Pedro Rodrigues, Jose, Dragnev; Nascimento, Coelho, Pedro Duarte, Alves; Herlander Tome, Mario Duarte. Subs used : Quiteque, Santos, Ricardo Tome, Silveira.

Match stats

Free kicks conceded : Imortal 15, Silves 19
Offside Imortal : 1, Silves 1
Shots on target : Imortal 6, Silves 0
Shots off target : Imortal 2, Silves 2
Shots blocked : Imortal 1, Silves 1
Corners : Imortal 5, Silves 2
Yellow cards : Imortal 3, Silves 2

Red Cards : 1 each.

Olhanense 3  - 3 Imortal

Some details. Imortal were denied a win in the 3rd minute of time added at the end when Olhanense equalised through Ivan Francisco.

An early goal for the hosts was matched just before halftime when Diogo Luz scored, his second goal of the season for Imortal. It remained 1-1 until the 75th minute, when Leandro Pimenta put Imortal ahead. The lead lasted only five minutes, a penalty converted by Giornny Santos restoring parity. Then, just two minutes later, Ricardo (Ruca) Tome restored the lead for Imortal having come on as a sub to replace Coelho. Then the killer blow struck by Francisco denied Imortal the win that would have kept them top of the table.

Next game for Imortal will be at home to Silves on Saturday 29th November, ko 1500hrs / 3pm.

Imortal team : Inacio; Pedro Rodrigues, Jose, Luz, Dragnev; Nascimento, Coelho, Pimenta, Herlander Tome; Ramos, Mario Duarte. Subs used : Walter Alves, Sequeira, Salvador, Ricardo Tome.

Yellow cards for Dragnev, Jose and Luz. Five Olhanense players also saw yellow.

IMORTAL 3  - 1 ODIÁXERE

Not the best performance as I said, but a win's a win and keeps Imortal top of the table. Imortal vastly outplayed the visitors for most of the game, but good chances were missed and the defence looked strangely uneasy at times.

The game began brightly for Imortal on a nice sunny afternoon with a moderate wind blowing left to right down the pitch. Almost from the kicoff, Alves combined with Dragnev down the left, Dragnev has plenty to time to put in a very good cross but no-one was there to meet it. Another good early move ended with Luz shooting just over the goal. The opening goal came after 11 minutes. A terrible effort by Herlander Tome was deflected for a corner. The corner was  good one, floated to the far post where Tome was able to poke the ball over the line from close range. Mauro José injured himself in his attempt to score.

Odiáxere came back at Imortal. The Imortal defence, which had not conceded a goal in five straight games, was looking jittery. Odiáxere claimed the equaliser on 35 minutes with a nice finish from Cabral, who was a pest all afternoon. A long clearance maybe swirled a bit in the wind, the defenders mis-judged it leaving Cabral one on one with Inacio, whose rush out of goal was met with a chip over his head from the edge of the penalty area.

Imortal re-took the lead in time added at the end of the first half. A thunderous shot by Coelho was blocked by an arm said the referee, just outside the penalty area and dead centre. After the customary debate, Alves faked the kick leaving Dragnev to crash the ball low and hard into the bottom left hand corner.

Imortal made a change at half time, replacing defender Sequeira with Ricardo Tome (Ruca) presumably to get some speed into the attack. Ruca was almost rewarded with five minutes of coming on. Persistence by Alves in beating three defenders set up a chance but Ruca's kick, with the goal at his mercy, missed the ball completely. Imortal kept Odiáxere at bay in the second half to the extent that not a single goalscoring chance was allowed. At the other end, Herlander Tome was thwarted by the quick reactions of visiting ´keeper Santos, coming out of goal to make a very good tackle just outside the box.

More half chances came Imortal's way, none could be converted. Ruca was again beaten to the ball by Santos, Duarte had a good shot blocked for a corner. Odiáxere relieved the pressure to some extent with some good play out of defence and in midfield, but nothing threatened Inacio's peaceful afternoon. Herlander Tome and 'keeper Santos collided in a goalmouth scramble. Santos made the most of it of course then made a miraculous recovery.

Time was up when a long ball out of defence floated over defenders in a manner similar to the goal scored by Odiáxere. Ruca was alert, controlled the loose ball well and sped towards goal. Out came the 'keeper, Ruca slid the ball past him but not very powerfully. Two defenders raced to intercept but the ball just made it over the line for Imortal's third. Happiness for Ruca, whose season has been rather up and down so far.

An unexpected surprise was the late introduction of Ricardo Ramos as a substitute. It was his first game for a year.

Next for Imortal is the trip to Paderne for the Algarve Cup tie on Wednesday, ko 20.30hrs then the next two league games will be away. First a short trip down the road to Armação de Pêra to face FC Os Armacanenses on Saturdy afternoon, then the Saturday after it's off to Olhão to play Olhanense.

Imortal team : Inacio;  Luz, Salvador, Sequeira, Jose; Dragnev, Alves, Nascimento, Coelho; Duarte, H. Tome. Subs used : Prates, Ramos, Quiteque, Santos, R.Tome.

Match Statistics

Free kicks conceded : Imortal 14, Odiáxere 15
Offside : Imortal 3, Odiáxere 0
Shots on target : Imortal 4, Odiáxere 1
Shots off target : Imortal 3, Odiáxere 1
Shots blocked : Imortal 2, Odiáxere 1
Corners : Imortal 9, Odiáxere 4
Yellow cards : Imortal 1, Odiáxere 2.