Alan Morris, Kathy and Tony Luton at Pinatar Park.

My friends Kathy and Tony had messaged me and asked if I wanted to go and see the Arsenal U21 team when they played VillaReal C in San Pedro del Pinatar. As an Arsenal fanatic, I jumped at the invitation to go with them.

Arsenal U21´s at Pinatar Park.

My friends Tony and Kathy picked me up around midday, drove me back through San Pedro, and showed me around the area. We stopped off for a quick drink on the beachfront at The Boardwalk Bar in San Pedro. It was a charming little place on the Promenade, and we sat chatting for a little while before we moved off. I was taken through the Salt Flats to look at the different coloured pools of water and then along to see the Mediterranean Sea.

We then went for a late lunch at Pizzeria Trastevere, a cafe bar in El Mojon. We all had the Menu del Dia, and I chose a bean stew starter and pork chops with pepper sauce as my main course. I washed it all down with a beer, and we sat down to talk about the local area and this evening's Arsenal game.

After our meal, we returned to Tony and Kathys' house so that I could take a look at their computer. Not wanting to lose any of their photos, I started backing up their photos to an external drive, but it was going to take a long time on a computer as old as theirs, and we left it running whilst we went out to watch the football.

Villa Real C vs Arsenal U21s.

When we arrived at the Pinatar Arena football centre, we went through the gates and headed to the bar. The bar itself was very nice. It was set up outside and was like a tropical beach bar setting. The weather was very hot, and the cool breeze was very refreshing. We sat chatting about the Arsenal Players and had a pint of beer before a couple more of Tony and Kathys' friends arrived, and we all headed to the seating area.

For some strange reason, they were only letting people sit in a tiny part of the arena, directly behind the home team's dugout. We sat at the top of the small stand so we could see over the dugout. The seat was the hardest seat I had sat on in a long time, but the teams were soon out on the pitch, and my mind stopped thinking about the hard seat to concentrate on the game.

The VillaReal C team didn't have any names I recognised. Still, the Arsenal team had a few names I recognised: Reuell Walters, Lino Sousa, Salah-Eddine Oulad M'Hand and Ethan Nwaneri, who recently became the Premier Leagues´ youngest-ever player. The game started with VillaReal making the early running, taking the game to Arsenal but the young Gunners soon found their way into the game.

VillaReal C was causing Arsenal U21s problems with their fast, direct passing, which led to an opening goal for them in the first half. After a bad tackle in the first half, Arsenal lost a player to injury and Ethan Nwaneri came on in their place. It was good to see such a young player take control of the ball and show no fear of the opposition. He will be a massive player in the future, and I'm glad he has signed up with Arsenal as a scholar.

Unfortunately, in the second half, a VillaReal C player broke at pace, driving towards the penalty area. One of the Arsenal players made a last-ditch tackle, bringing the player down just outside the area. The referee immediately showed a red card to the Arsenal player, and they were left to play the rest of the game with 10 men. From the resulting free-kick, VillaReal C scored a second goal. Arsenal U21s tried very hard, and I think they probably had more possession, even with only 10 men, but they couldn't find a way through VillaReals' defence, and the game finished VillaReal C 2, Arsenal 0.

I enjoyed the game but was disappointed that the over-efficient stewards wouldn't let the young children get autographs from the Arsenal team. They let them get autographs from the VillaReal team but blocked the young children from asking the Arsenal players for their autographs.

Post-match refreshments.

We left the ground and travelled the short distance to the Heladería Ferrer in San Pedro del Pinatar. I was very tempted to eat every ice cream on display but decided to settle for a pint instead. After a short stop, we returned to Tony and Kathys' home, and I checked the backup of the photos had worked correctly. Because the work would take me a bit longer, we arranged a time for Tony and Kathy to visit me at my apartment next week so I could carry out the work on my computer, as it is a lot faster. After I checked if the backup had worked, Tony took me back to my apartment in Los Alcazares.

I had a great afternoon and evening. The only thing that could have made it better was an Arsenal win, and me not misplacing the t-shirt I had on when I swapped it for my Arsenal shirt before the game. Thanks for your company, Tony and Kathy and it was great to see my friend Claire at the ground with her little boy.

Photos of Villa Real C vs Arsenal U21s.

These are a couple of photos I took at Pinatar Park watching the Villa Real C team take on the uner 21 Arsenal team.

Arsenal & Villa Real teams walk onto the pitch at Pinatar Arena. Arsenal and Villa Real teams.

Arsenal & Villa Real teams shake hands before the game at Pinatar Arena. Players shake hands. Arsenal U21s starting eleven at Pinatar Arena. Arsenal U21s starting eleven. Arsenals, Ethan Nwaneri, number 18, on the pitch at Pinatar Park. Ethan Nwaneri, number 18.
Video clip of Villa Real C vs Arsenal U21s.