Real throw away a two-goal lead

After a weekend when prior to his Man. Utd. debut, Marouane Fellaini was on the subs’ bench – and for an hour nobody behind him got to see the game ! – Real Mallorca threw away three points on Sunday night when, after taking a two-goal lead, they gifted Hercules a share of the spoils in a 2-2 draw.
We more or less dominated play for 80 minutes after Gerard Moreno (who has been one of Mallorca’s shining lights this season) scored his fourth of the campaign just before the half hour mark.
Mallorca were well on course for their first win on the road for many months when Thomas popped up in the home penalty area to make it 2-0 in the 70th minute. Nine minutes later a mistake by our keeper Miño allowed Hercules back into the game.
From then on, it was panic stations for Mallorca as the jitters set in. We just don’t have the capability at the moment to hold on to a lead and kill the game off. Time after time we misplaced simple passes as the home team realised they could get some kind of result out of Mallorca’s lack of concentration.
Now all Mallorca should have had to do was hold on for 20 minutes and three points were in the bag. That’s what should have happened but most certainly didn’t.

Mallorca struggle to keep possession
Hercules had introduced 32-year old Enrique De Lucas just after the break and the ex Chelsea player put the home team back in contention with the help of our goalkeeper. Miño had started the game with a great save in the first minute and looked comfortable, then a snap shot from De Lucas squirmed out of Miño’s grasp and trickled into the net, 1-2.
Suddenly our defence succumbed to the added pressure and Hercules looked likely to snatch another. Just before the end, Dioni did just that as he made sure of a point for the Alicante side with a goal that looked offside and had more than a hint of hand ball, 2-2.
I’m sure most Mallorca fans watching the game on the telly went numb after that went in. How on Earth could we have blown a two-goal lead while looking capable of hanging on for three points ?
Mallorca became over defensive for most of the second half, putting 11 players behind the ball. Even front men Victor and Moreno were drafted in as defenders. We persisted in giving Hercules the ball back and it looked like Mallorca were toying with the opposition by saying “Come on if you think you’re hard enough,” which is exactly what Hercules were in the last 10 minutes.
Sunday’s draw has probably saved under-fire coach Jose Luis Oltra’s job for at least a week. We now have to win at home to Mirandes next Sunday at 5 pm.
At present Mallorca are not so much looking upwards for promotion as looking downwards to stay in the second division. But at least there were signs on Sunday of some improvement. It’s our defence week after week that lets us down.

And finally, Down
Under
On a trip to London an Australian applied for a job as a royal footman and managed to get an interview.
Armed with his references from his previous job as a royal footman in Canberra, he went along to the interview, where he was asked to drop his trousers.
Seeing the Aussie’s puzzled expression, the interviewer explained “Don’t worry, it’s merely a formality. You see, footmen are often required to wear kilts when accompanying the Queen to Balmoral. So we like to examine the knees of applicants to check for any unsightly scars.”
The Aussie duly dropped his trousers to allow his knees to be inspected.
“Excellent,” said the interviewer, “Now could you show me your testimonials?”
Thirty seconds later, the Aussie found himself lying in the corridor nursing a black eye.
“Strewth,” he said, picking himself up and dusting himself down, “I reckon I’d have got that job if I’d known the lingo a little better!”