Second division - day 37

Numancia are only one point away from promotion after a 0-1 victory at Salamanca on Sunday lunchtime. Mario drilled a free kick past the defensive wall midway through the first half to give the Soria based side another away win. Later in the day all eyes were on fourth placed Real Sociedad, who were playing at Cádiz. Díaz de Cerio put the Basque side ahead shortly before half time, but second half strikes from Dani and Natalio turned the scoreline around. At that point Numancia would have been up, but Delibasic made it 2-2 late on to save a point and scupper their celebrations. It was a set-back for Real though, who are now four points adrift of Málaga and Sporting.

The relegation battle looks like going down to the wire this season, and things are even closer after the bottom two clubs both won. Poli Ejido came back from a goal down to beat Hércules 1-2, goals either side of half time from Castells and Bermejo overturning Jaume's earlier header. And Córdoba won 2-1 against local rivals Xerez, Rubén getting the winner midway through the second half after Moreno had cancelled out Arthuro's seventh minute strike. Just above them in the table Alavés and Albacete played out a lively 0-0 draw to maintain the status quo between the two. It's anybody's guess who will go down though, and with five games to go only nine points separate eighth placed Hércules from bottom club Poli Ejido. (11.05.08)

With Numancia well ahead of the rest, it looks like two out of Málaga, Sporting and Real Sociedad for the remaining promotion spots. Pending Real's game on Sunday, the gap between them could be reduced to two points after Málaga lost 1-2 to Gimnàstic. Paulo Jorge put the Andalusians ahead with a well struck free kick midway through the first half, but Abraham equalised four minutes later and Mairata got the winner after the break to take the Catalans out of the relegation spots.

Sporting Gijón moved level with Málaga after a 0-2 victory at Tenerife, although they stay behind them in the table on the head-to-head record. Michel and Pedro got the goals shortly before the break with shots from outside of the area. Castellón still have an outside chance of making it in to the top three though, and they stay seven points behind the Asturians after a 1-0 win over Elche, López Garay getting the only goal four minutes after the restart.

Most of the teams in and around the drop zone play tomorrow, but only six points separate tenth place Celta from the bottom four after they lost 2-1 to Sevilla Atlético. Eibar and Las Palmas are level with the Galicians on points after they drew 2-2, and Granada 74 and Racing Ferrol are only just above the danger area after they drew 3-3 in the first game of the weekend. (10.05.08)