Sergio Mora worked the miracle when the fans began to look more at the relegation places than at the top (matchday 11). It was the week before the match against Murcia and Hercules occupied tenth place in the standings, just three points behind El Ejido, the team that marked the limit with the relegation zone to Third RFEF. The Blue and White coach left the squad without days of rest after losing to Puertollano (2-1) in a game in which the Blue and White team hit rock bottom. The rope was about to break at the same point as always, but this time Enrique Ortiz held his breath and decided to give continuity to the technician unlike what happened on recent occasions. And the reaction was immediate with the victory against Murcia at Rico Pérez, which marked a turning point and the beginning of a great streak for Hercules with six consecutive victories.
Mora’s team went from being tenth in the standings to finishing the first lap as the solo leader of group V of the Second RFEF. A total turnaround to the classification in just six days was given by a Hercules who has turned the sensations on the field even though he has won almost all the games by the minimum.
One of the keys to the Blue and White reaction coincides with the entry into the team of Carlos David. The Extremaduran defender has made a notable leap in quality in the squad and the great unknown is why Mora took so long to count on him. The defense axis with Carlos David and Tano is one of the most solvent in the category. Diego Jiménez, who scored the goal in Marchamalo, will return to his natural place before the Granada subsidiary after the expulsion of the former Cartagena player in the last game.
Hercules has managed to overcome important losses in its squad in the last months of the competition, such as those of Toscano, Nico and Acuña, and defensive errors and weakness in the goal to resurface and cross the equator of the championship in first position. A draw on the first day and the victories against Intercity and Mar Menor allowed us to appreciate a fierce, combative and aggressive Hercules. Proof of this was the high number of expelled in the first days.
The first hit came against Alzira (4-0). The win left the team in a sea of doubts, alternating brilliant victories, such as against Atlético Pulpileño (0-4), with disappointing results, such as the draw against La Nucía (0-0), despite playing 86 minutes with a player more, or the defeat against the Levante subsidiary (0-3).
The Alicante team hit bottom on the eleventh day, after falling to Puertollano (2-1) with a goal in extra time, when just a couple of minutes earlier they had managed to equalize the score.
That defeat, on November 14, took Hercules to tenth position, three points from relegation and another three from promotion promotion.
Mora’s group came to the game in high demand against Murcia, another big one in trouble, but they responded (3-0) and managed to find a foothold to change their dynamics. It was a victory that changed everything.
The key
The change in attitude of the squad and the entry of Carlos David
The team has returned to have the competitive gene that it had in the first days of the championship. Character and energy.
Mora found a typical team and the team, more and more united, showed its more solid and reliable image. Hercules established his goal with the young Adri López and found in the veteran Pedro Sánchez and in Aketxe the goals he had missed at the start of the season.
The Alicante team managed to link another four victories, against Melilla (1-2), Águilas (2-1), Mancha Real (1-2) and Toledo (1-0), which led them to the gates of Christmas installed in the promotion zone and very close to the leadership. In the first game of the year 2022, Hercules consummated his climb by taking advantage of the tie of the co-leaders and closing the first round at the top.
Only two of the 90 teams that compete in the five groups of the Second RFEF accumulate six consecutive wins. Hercules and Pontevedra (group I) are the teams that have finished the first round of the competition in a big way with six consecutive victories.
Hercules, who this past day climbed to the top of the standings after their victory in Marchamalo (0-1), had not been the leader of a competition for more than three years.
The last time the Alicante team settled in first place was in the 2018-19 season, in group III of Second B, after drawing on matchday 14, played in November, at the Rico Pérez stadium. against Castellón (1-1).
That team trained by Lluís Planagumà finished the competition in second position and played the promotion phase, falling in the final against Ponferradina. This season, the leadership has also allowed Hercules to become winter champion after reaching the first place on the last day of the first round of the championship in group V of Second RFEF.
The Alicante team, without games pending due to postponements, will take advantage of the competition break, which will not resume until next January 22 with a visit to the Granada subsidiary, to play a friendly tomorrow in Oliva.
The best streak along with that of Pontevedra
Only two of the 90 teams in the category present such relevant data
Only two of the 90 teams that compete in the five groups of the Second RFEF accumulate six consecutive wins. Hercules and Pontevedra (group I) are the teams that have finished the first round of the competition in a big way with six consecutive victories.
Hercules, who this past day climbed to the top of the standings after their victory in Marchamalo (0-1), had not been the leader of a competition for more than three years.
The last time the Alicante team settled in first place was in the 2018-19 season, in group III of Second B, after drawing on matchday 14, played in November, at the Rico Pérez stadium. against Castellón (1-1).
That team trained by Lluís Planagumà finished the competition in second position and played the promotion phase, falling in the final against Ponferradina. This season, the leadership has also allowed Hercules to become winter champion after reaching the first place on the last day of the first round of the championship in group V of Second RFEF.
The Alicante team, without games pending due to postponements, will take advantage of the competition break, which will not resume until next January 22 with a visit to the Granada subsidiary, to play a friendly tomorrow in Oliva.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.