Second division - day 42

Final standings:
Promoted: Numancia, Sporting Gijón, Málaga
Relegated: Poli Ejido, Granada 74, Cádiz, Racing Ferrol
Promoted to 2A: Rayo Vallecano, Alicante, Huesca, Girona.

Málaga and Sporting Gijón will join Numancia in the first division next season after both won their respective matches. Málaga beat Tenerife 2-1, two goals from Antonio Hidalgo making sure they stayed ahead of Real Sociedad despite a last minute strike from Nino. And Sporting Gijón won 2-0 against Eibar to return to the top flight for the first time in eleven years, Bilic and Luis Morán getting the goals for the Asturians. Real Sociedad themselves finish four points adrift after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Córdoba, who escaped the drop by the skin of their teeth.

A cruel ending though for Cádiz and Racing Ferrol, who were both relegated despite putting up valiant rear guard actions. Cádiz could only draw 1-1 at Hércules, although Abraham Paz fired a last minute penalty against the post which would have kept them up. And Racing Ferrol also go down despite a 1-0 win over Castellón, Alavés scraping past them after coming from behind to win 2-3 at Celta. Albacete avoided the drop as well with a 3-1 victory over Las Palmas, and Xerez are also safe after beating Elche 1-0. (15.06.08)

Minute-by-minute goalscorers:
Min 53. Ponferradina 1 - Alicante 0 (De Paula)
Min 85. Rayo Vallecano 1 - Zamora 1 (Iván García)
Min 93. Celta 2 - Alavés 3 (Nuñez)
Min 90. Málaga 2 - Tenerife 1 (Nino)
Min 55. Rayo Vallecano 1 - Zamora 0 (Pachón)
Min 53. Girona 1 - Ceuta 0 (Migue)
Min 80. Sporting Gijón 2 - Eibar 0 (Luis Morán)
Min 77. Celta 1 - Alavés 3 (Toni Moral)
Min 76. Albacete 3 - Las Palmas 1 (Barkero pen)
Min 70. Celta 1 - Alavés 2 (Gabri)
Min 68. Málaga 2 - Tenerife 0 (Hidalgo - pen)
Min 67. Celta 1 - Alavés 1 (Aganzo)
Min 64. Albacete 2 - Las Palmas 1 (Fukuda)
Min 59. Xerez 1 - Elche 0 (Yordi)
Min 93. Écija 1 - Huesca 1 (Roberto)
Min 42. Málaga 1 - Tenerife 0 (Hidalgo)
Min 36. Sporting Gijón 1 - Eibar 0 (Bilic)
Min 36. Real Sociedad 1 - Córdoba 1 (Labaka)
Min 34. Albacete 2 - Las Palmas 0 (Diego Alegre)
Min 34. Hércules 1 - Cádiz 1 (Sendoa)
Min 33. Racing Ferrol 1 - Castellón 0 (Rubén García)
Min 31. Real Sociedad 0 - Córdoba 1 (Pineda)
Min 20. Hércules 0 - Cádiz 1 (Gustavo López)
Min 63. Écija 1 - Huesca 0 (Nolito)
Min 10. Albacete 1 - Las Palmas 0 (Xavi Jiménez)
Min 09. Celta 1- Alavés 0 (Canobbio)

Coming in to the last weekend of the season, with three sides still battling for the two remaining promotion spots, and no less than six trying to avoid the last two relegation places. That means that eight of the eleven games kick off at the same time on Sunday evening.

Two matches were allowed to take place on Saturday though, second division champions Numancia ending a successful campaign with a 2-2 draw against bottom club Poli Ejido. Later in the evening Salamanca beat Gimnàstic 1-2 to move up to seventh pending Sunday's fixtures. And on Sunday lunchtime, Sevilla Atlético completed their first year at this level with a 4-2 win over Granada 74, who were already relegated last weekend. (15.06.08)