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Match round-up - Second Division A, Day 17

Hércules stay two points clear at the top of the second division after coming from behind to draw 2-2 with third placed Valladolid on Sunday lunchtime. Coach Miroslav Djukic was returning to the Rico Pérez for the first time since leaving the club in the summer, and he saw his new side take the lead in the ninth minute when local keeper Falcón slipped as he was about to clear a soft shot from Javi Guerra. And the visitors went further ahead later in the first half, Víctor Pérez winning the ball off Abel Aguilar in midfield and running on to beat Falcón for a second time. However within ten minutes of the restart the Alicante based side were level, Aguilar and then Aganzo heading in Carlos Calvo corners. Nauzet's protests at the second goal earned him a second booking and a red card, but Valladolid held on after that for a point which keeps them in the play-off spots.

Later in the evening Guadalajara beat Murcia 2-1 to move back up to eighth spot. The two teams started the day level on points, but the locals took the lead in the twelfth minute when Gaffoor headed in Ernesto's corner. Twenty minutes later Iván Moreno fired a shot over Alberto to make it two, and they held on until a quarter of an hour from the end, when Pedro got one back with a shot on the turn. However local defender Barral got himself sent off a couple of minutes later for a second bookable offence, and there were some nervous moments before the referee blew the final whistle. (11.12.11)

Elche missed out on a chance to overtake leaders Hércules after they were held to a 0-0 draw by Sabadell on Saturday afternoon. The locals had not won in eight games, and they hardly troubled visiting keeper Juan Carlos throughout the ninety minutes. Elche's best chance came when Linares headed an Angel cross against the bar early in the second half, and De Navas had to be on his toes to keep out Palanca and Angel later on. However in the end both sides settled for a point which keeps the Catalans in tenth spot. It was a seventh game without defeat for Pepe Bordalás's team, although they will rue the fact that they couldn't get the goal they needed to take the three points.

Deportivo are now only a point behind Elche after they beat Numancia 3-1 later in the evening. Lassad latched on to Valerón's headed pass to open the scoring on the quarter hour mark, and Guardado volleyed home a second later in the first half. However Juanjo headed one back fifteen minutes into the second half, and Julio Alvarez should have equalised when he blasted a penalty over the bar after Ze Castro fouled Bedoya with ten minutes to go. Let off the hook, Depor wrapped things up five minutes later when Juan Domínguez took advantage of an assist from Bergantiños to score the third, and any hope the visitors had of a comeback ended when Jaio was sent off in the last minute.

Córdoba drop to fourth place after they could only draw 0-0 at struggling Gimnàstic, who stay in the relegation zone after a fourth game without a win. Viguera tested Alberto for the locals early on, and López Silva replied with a cross which bounced off the crossbar. Hervás could have scored shortly before the interval when he intercepted a bad back pass from Seone, Rubén Pérez snuffing out the danger, and Luna caused some problems for the visitors with his dead ball kicks after the restart. With a quarter of an hour to go Charles got himself sent off for a foul on Luna, but the Catalans failed to take advantage, Eloy having a strike ruled out for a borderline offside late on.

Another 0-0 draw between Alcorcón and Celta, leaving the Galicians a point outside the play-off spots and their hosts two points behind them in the table. The visitors had the better chances in the first half, Iago Aspas bringing a good save out of Manu Herrera and Mario Bermejo hitting the post with a long shot. Celta keeper Yoel's first intervention came after the break when he had to save from Fernando Sales, but after that the game fizzled out, and from then on the two keepers were mere spectators.

A fourth goal-less draw as well this weekend, Las Palmas getting a point off bottom club Cartagena to stay safely up in ninth place for now. There was little action in a dull first half, but a few minutes after the interval the visitors were left with ten men when Javi Guerrero picked up a second booking. Dimas and Collantes went close for the home side, and Las Palmas keeper Barbosa saved a penalty from Collantes after Quiroga pulled back Maldonado in the area. But Javi López's side couldn't avoid a fourth 0-0 draw in a row, and they stay at the foot of the table for another week at least.

Cartagena are now level with Nàstic and Girona, who were beaten 2-1 by Alcoyano. All the goals came after the break, Paco Esteban running on to Devesa's pass to open the scoring for the home side three minutes after the restart. Midway through the second half Gato picked up a pass from Guille Roldán to make it two, but just a minute later Jandro pulled one back with a well struck free kick. After that the ex Valencia midfielder could have saved a point for the Catalans late on, but his penalty kick was saved by Maestro.

Huesca moved two points above the bottom three, although they stay in the drop zone despite a 1-1 draw at Recreativo. The first real chance didn't come until the hour mark, when Luis Helguera headed a free kick against the post and Gilvan fired the rebound over the top. Recre went ahead though with a quarter of an hour to go when Fidel turned the ball in to the net after Luis García had pushed an effort from Sergi Enrich on to the post. But four minutes from the end Tariq made it all square after good work by Gilvan to keep his side within four points of their opponents in the table.

Xerez are only two points above the bottom four though after they were beaten 3-1 by Villarreal B. New coach Vicente Moreno saw his side go behind when Lucas Porcar beat Doblas with a shot from outside of the area, and the youth international scored his second of the evening from Pere's cross twenty minutes after the restart. With six minutes to go Campano gave the visitors hope of a result when he fired an angled shot past Jorge, but with the game in injury time Gerard wrapped things up with a third goal which takes Molina's side two points above the Andalusians in the table. (10.12.11)

A high scoring 3-3 draw between Barcelona B and Almería on Friday night to start off the weekend programme. Many of Barça's talented youngsters had played in Tuesday night's Champions League game against BATE Borisov as Guardiola rested key players for Saturday's clash against Real Madrid. And the confidence of that win showed through as they dominated the first half before Jonathan Soriano put them ahead just before the break after Esteban could only block a shot from Tello. However Soriano's namesake scored twice for the visitors in the first twenty minutes of the second half to turn the scoreline around, the first after Ulloa headed on a corner and the second after a shot from Aleix Vidal came off Lobato. After that Eusebio's side came back to score twice themselves and go back in front, Riverola levelling the scores after another Tello effort was blocked, and Tello himself scoring his team's third following good work by Deulofeu. But with the game coming to an end substitute Aarón Ñíguez beat Masip again to save a point and keep his side in the play-off spots, despite a fifth match without a win. (09.12.11)