Mallorca pray for a miracle after 1-1 draw

We got off to the best possible start in the second minute when Salomao burst into the penalty area, Vallejo getting involved, pushing the ball into the path of Lago Junior, who swivelled to shoot past Cordoba's Polish goalkeeper Pavel Kieszek. Could the great escape be on or would Mallorca do their usual thing and sit back after going ahead? They did the latter and Cordoba were level on the 20-minute mark. Pedro Ros was on the end of an Oriol mistake to fire home the equaliser. The 11,000 crowd were hushed, we'd let Cordoba get back into the game. That equaliser turned Mallorca into nervous wrecks. They looked like a team who had relegation written all over them as the referee blew for half time.

During the break the talk amongst the Mallorquinistas was about not taking advantage of our early lead. Just before the hour, coach Sergi made a double substitution, replacing Salomao with Moutinho and Pol Roige came off for Manchester City loanee Angelino. He had a pivotal part to play in our grandstand finish. Just why he didn't start the game was puzzling, as was the coach's decision to pick a 4-5-1 line-up.

With time running out, Lekic was introduced for a tiring Culio who had put in a major shift. At last we had a bit of an option up front as Mallorca pressed for that all-elusive winner. The last ten minutes was like the Alamo. We forced six corners, four free kicks and had five shots on target in the last ten minutes. Cordoba's keeper Kieszek was inspired and there's no doubt he stopped us winning, making a string of brilliant saves, culminating in the 92nd minute when a goal-bound shot from Angelino was spectacularly pushed over the bar.

Summing up: Going into the next match (away against Sevilla Atlético on 30 April), our stats read 31 goals in 35 games, six wins out of 35, and ten games without a win. For some reason we can play the first five minutes and the last ten, but not the 75 minutes in the middle. With seven games left our cause looks lost, we've fallen eight points behind Cordoba, UCAM Murcia and Nastic, who are on 41 points and we remain four off third-bottom Alcorcon. The best thing for Real Mallorca to do now (and it grieves me to say it) is to accept our demotion to “hell” (Segunda B, also called the “elephant's graveyard”) and let's start again - from scratch.

After the game, around 200 angry supporters congregated at the exit to the car park to vent their pent-up emotions to the players and staff. The players came first with shouts of “mercenarios” resonating into the early evening air. But it was general manager Maheta Molango and his sidekick, director of football Javi Recio, that these fans were waiting for. When Molango left in his white Range Rover, he sped out of the car park in a cloud of dust like Roadrunner being chased by Coyote. Shouts of “leave the Son Moix and don't come back” and “Molango you're a coward” were predominant.

Just what happens now is open to conjecture. If Robert Sarver stays on as owner, Molango will have to go, the fans have fallen out of love with him, big time. He sat in the directors' box for the first time this season and had to walk down the steps of hate on his way out. We need a general manager who's experienced at running a football team, who has ambition. We have been let down by some poor dealings in the transfer market. Also required is a coach who is not frightened to pick an all-out attacking formation. One other train of thought is that if Sarver pulls out of his Real Mallorca venture and doesn't put in the nine million euros at the end of the summer to keep us afloat, we could easily go out of business. Other well-known clubs like Racing Santander, Oviedo, Real Murcia and Albacete have all had to have bail-outs from various charitable supporters.