Hereford United supporter 'Beans', who lives in Spain, has kindly written this preview for BN.
This Saturday sees the Hereford United squad travel to the Murcia province in South East Spain to begin a five day ‘warm’ weather training camp. The trip is to include a match against Tercera Division group 13 side Molina Segura on Tuesday 19th, 7pm (BST)* kick off.
This Saturday sees the Hereford United squad travel to the Murcia province in South East Spain to begin a five day ‘warm’ weather training camp. The trip is to include a match against Tercera Division group 13 side Molina Segura on Tuesday 19th, 7pm (BST)* kick off.
*The "BST" timing has only just come to light....it may effect the minibus timings. Beans will update the arrangements and advise if required.
Molina Segura finished 9th in the division last season and should prove to be a good work out for the Whites who head to Spain on the back of a 5-0 victory against Ludlow Town. The match which is to be held at The Hacienda del Alamo golf resort near Fuente del Alamo is sure to be a stern test for the Bulls who will have to contend with the early evening heat as well as a side who – like other teams in the Spanish lower leagues – should be able to retain the ball well. I managed to see a few games at my local side Pinatar CF last season who are in the same league as Molina and I would say the standard of football I saw was akin to the Conference. The quality and range of passing though was of a higher level, but hopefully the good old English (and Welsh!) pace and power will prove too much for them! As the match is being held at a golf resort I think we can expect a pretty decent pitch which should please manager Jamie Pitman! I am told there are a small amount of seats to the side of the pitch and also a kiosk where refreshments can be purchased. No entry fee to watch the match has been set. The game could possibly be free but I wouldn't expect to pay anymore than €5.
Any Bulls fans making the trip over to Murcia for a few days will not be short of things to keep them occupied. The region boasts over 250 kilometres of coastline almost entirely made up by the sandy beaches of the Mar Menor and the Mediterranean. The Mar Menor is the biggest salt water lagoon in Europe. The La Manga sand strip almost encloses 170 square kilometeres of the shallow warm waters and it’s therapeutic mud baths seem to be popular with the Spanish tourists. For people who don’t like lazing around on the beaches there are plenty of other places to visit – the historic Roman port city of Cartagena, the Cordilla Penibetica Mountains, the natural park and salt lakes of las Salinas which is home to hundreds of flamingos and the wide choice of bars and restaurants to name just a few.
Travel
Budget airlines fly to Murcia’s San Javier airport with regularity from most of the UK airports from which Fuente del Alamo is around a half an hour drive.
Direction from the airport - As you leave the airport follow signs for the A7 motorway to Cartagena. Take this motorway until you get near to Cartagena and then take the exit for the A30 to Murcia. After about 15 minutes there will be an exit signposted Roldan, Fuente Alamo and Balsapintada. Take this exit to the roundabout and turn left to Fuente Alamo and Balsapintada. Keeping going for about 5kms going through the village of Balsapintada, when you reach a roundabout go straight across and go into Fuente Alamo. You will come to another roundabout; turn right here and you will see a signpost for Hacienda del Alamo.
There is a minibus leaving from San Pedro/Lo Pagan which is a five minute taxi drive from the airport. The minibus will be leaving from the bus stop outside the fair at 5.30pm. There are currently 8 seats left on the bus so anyone interested should contact natacooke@aol.com or telephone 0034968061178.The cost at the moment is €20 but will reduce if we can get more people to use it.
Molina Segura finished 9th in the division last season and should prove to be a good work out for the Whites who head to Spain on the back of a 5-0 victory against Ludlow Town. The match which is to be held at The Hacienda del Alamo golf resort near Fuente del Alamo is sure to be a stern test for the Bulls who will have to contend with the early evening heat as well as a side who – like other teams in the Spanish lower leagues – should be able to retain the ball well. I managed to see a few games at my local side Pinatar CF last season who are in the same league as Molina and I would say the standard of football I saw was akin to the Conference. The quality and range of passing though was of a higher level, but hopefully the good old English (and Welsh!) pace and power will prove too much for them! As the match is being held at a golf resort I think we can expect a pretty decent pitch which should please manager Jamie Pitman! I am told there are a small amount of seats to the side of the pitch and also a kiosk where refreshments can be purchased. No entry fee to watch the match has been set. The game could possibly be free but I wouldn't expect to pay anymore than €5.
Travel
Budget airlines fly to Murcia’s San Javier airport with regularity from most of the UK airports from which Fuente del Alamo is around a half an hour drive.
Direction from the airport - As you leave the airport follow signs for the A7 motorway to Cartagena. Take this motorway until you get near to Cartagena and then take the exit for the A30 to Murcia. After about 15 minutes there will be an exit signposted Roldan, Fuente Alamo and Balsapintada. Take this exit to the roundabout and turn left to Fuente Alamo and Balsapintada. Keeping going for about 5kms going through the village of Balsapintada, when you reach a roundabout go straight across and go into Fuente Alamo. You will come to another roundabout; turn right here and you will see a signpost for Hacienda del Alamo.
There is a minibus leaving from San Pedro/Lo Pagan which is a five minute taxi drive from the airport. The minibus will be leaving from the bus stop outside the fair at 5.30pm. There are currently 8 seats left on the bus so anyone interested should contact natacooke@aol.com or telephone 0034968061178.The cost at the moment is €20 but will reduce if we can get more people to use it.