Second division, day 15

Leaders Xerez were brought down to earth after losing 1-4 to neighbours Cádiz on Sunday lunchtime. Yordi put the hosts ahead early on, but Paz and Sesma turned the scoreline around either side of half time, and a Lobos penalty and a late strike by Vella wrapped things up. Xerez's defeat means that Valladolid move to the top, even though they were pegged back to a 2-2 draw by Almería. Llorente and Capdevila had put the locals two up with an hour gone, but a Pedro López own goal and a strike by Michel saved a point for the visitors. Salamanca stay in third place despite being held to a 0-0 draw at home by Numancia.

Once again the second division is closely fought, with only one point separating eleventh from nineteenth spot. A Parri strike helped Albacete to a 0-1 win at fourth placed Sporting Gijón, taking them away from the danger zone, and Castellón move out of the bottom four thanks to a 0-2 victory at Poli Ejido, Natalio and Tabares getting their goals either side of half time. And Ciudad Murcia put an end to their run of five games without a win after coming from a goal down to beat Hércules 2-1, Goitom giving them the three points ten minutes from the end. (03.12.06)

Five games on Saturday evening, most of which involving teams down in the bottom half of the table. The most extraordinary result though was the 6-1 victory by Las Palmas against Alavés, with Marcos Márquez getting three for the Canary Islanders. They move out of the bottom four, as do Elche, who beat bottom club Vecindario 2-1 thanks to a goal in each half by Miguel. Ponferradina also beat Tenerife 1-0 to record their first victory in nine games, although the game was tinged by tragedy as the father of one of the Tenerife players died of a heart attack whilst watching the match.

Real Murcia moved back up to fourth pending Sunday's games after drawing 1-1 at neighbours Lorca. It took a last minute strike from Antoñito to save a point though after Iván Anía had scored early on for the hosts. And there was a six goal thriller at Málaga, where Castilla came back three times to draw 3-3 with the Andalusians. Salva got all three for the home side in the first half, but strikes by Negredo, Granero and Valero cancelled them out each time. (02.12.06)