Home victories in each and every one of the six matches which were brought forward to Saturday evening, most of which involved lower ranked sides. Second placed Lorca were in action though, and they lost 2-1 at Málaga B despite taking an early lead when Sava headed a Ramos cross past Nauzet in the seventh minute. For a few minutes the Murcia based side were mathematically top of the table, but after Diego Castro and Ador went close, Castro set up Usero for him to round the keeper and level the scores. Maldonado brought a good save out of Nauzet and Jorge Sánchez hit the bar as the visitors tried to get back in to the lead, but five minutes after the restart Iñaki Bea turned an effort from Diego Castro in to his own net to put Málaga B ahead. Lorca hit the woodwork a couple of times late on and Nauzet saved another effort from De Carlos, but even though the hosts were left with ten men after substitute Samba was given a second booking for protesting, there was no way back. The result takes the Andalusians off the bottom of the table.

Almería moved to within a point of Lorca after beating Valladolid 2-1. Both sides had chances in the first half, Tote shooting just wide and Llorente and Víctor testing Valerio for the visitors, and Crusat and Kalu Uche replying for the home side. Six minutes into the second half Uche put Paco Flores's side ahead when he headed home Crusat's cross, and a few minutes later Jonathan Soriano scored his first goal since his loan move from Espanyol when he finished off after Uche played on another centre from Crusat. Capdevila pulled one back with a spectacular shot from outside of the area, but substitute Losada wasted a good chance to equalise late on, leaving his side further adrift of the promotion spots.

Numancia moved a point ahead of Valladolid after beating Tenerife 2-0, and with a run of nine games without defeat under their belts and a game still in hand on their rivals, Andoni Goikoetxea's side are not yet out of the running for promotion. There were few chances in a dull first half, Moreno shooting over the bar for the Soria based side and Juan Pablo (who went off injured soon after the restart) having to save at the other end from Cristian Alvarez close to the interval. With twenty minutes to go Miguel opened the scoring after Keleman could only parry a shot from Tevenet, and Otxoa almost made it two when he forced a great save out of the keeper (who curiously also had to be substituted after crashing against the post). Four minutes from the end Pablo Niño wrapped things up with a diving header from Miguel's cross to make it four wins in a row at home, leaving the Canary Island side languishing just above the drop zone.

Eibar drop to the bottom of the table after losing 1-0 to Real Madrid Castilla, who themselves are now up to seventh. Roberto Soldado got the only goal early, picking up a pass from Borja Valero to beat Etxeberría and extend his lead at the top of the second division Pichichi table. But the Basque side had the better of the first half after that, Susaeta bringing a couple of good saves out of Cobeño from free kicks and Rubén clearing another effort off the line. Soldado could have increased the lead after the break when he collected a pass from Negredo to fire a shot against the post, and Barral wasted another chance late on after Jurado set him up, but they had done enough to take the three points.

Castellón moved up a place to nineteenth after beating Sporting Gijón 1-0, and they are now only two points behind Tenerife. Pepe Moré's side took the lead when Aurelio forced the ball in with his knee after Torrecilla headed on Castell's corner ten minutes before the break. As in all first and second division grounds this weekend, the officials were applauded on to the park, but referee Gallo Moreno was booed off at half time after turning down a penalty appeal by Castell (who was sent off for a second bookable offence late on) and then ruling out a goal by Moré's son Xavi. The Asturians tried their best after the restart, but Calandria fired a good chance over the bar and Oliva produced the save of the match to keep out David Karanka in the final minutes.

Hércules finally took to the field after two weekends where they fixtures were postponed, and they moved away from the danger zone after a 2-1 victory over Lleida. All the goals came in the first half, the alicante based side taking the lead in the first minute when Sergio Fernández headed in a corner on the near post. Dani Borreguero went close before Kike Mateo made it two, beating the offside trap to pick up a long clearance from Fernández and shoot past Rangel. The Catalans got a goal back with a hotly disputed Bilic penalty after the Croatian striker was brought down by Castro, and local keeper srgio Sánchez had to be at his best to keep out a Camacho free kick after the restart. (11.03.06)

Recreativo Huelva took another step towards a return to the top flight with a 4-1 win over promotion rivals Levante on Sunday lunchtime. Gastón Casas put the Andalusians in front with just under a quarter of an hour on the clock when he picked up a pass from Xavi Jiménez to score, much to the disgust of the visiting players who had their appeals for offside turned down by referee Medina Méndez. Carmelo levelled the scores with a spectacular strike just three minutes later, but Medina further upset Mané's side when he awarded a dubious penalty for a foul by Alexis on Jiménez which Gastón Casas converted. A mistake by the defence let in Casas for his hat-trick soon after the interval, and although Toño had to keep out Camacho and Courtois, Juvenal wrapped things up after good work by Uche near the end.

Gimnastic Tarragona are a surprise second in the table after beating Poli Ejido 2-0. The Catalans were on a roll having taken 20 points from their previous eight games, and they had the chance to go ahead when they were awarded a dubious penalty after a defender handled in the area with half an hour gone. Kike saved Ismael's spot kick and the striker put the rebound wide, but a few minutes later Diego Torres put the home side ahead following a corner. Local keeper Rubén had some work to do early in the second half, but Pinilla wrapped things up on the hour mark when he headed home Cuéllar's cross, much to the delight of the 11,000 or so local fans, most of whom were not born when Nàstic last played in the first division in the 1949/50 season.

The defeats of Lorca and Levante mean that Xerez are back up to third spot, even though they could only manage a 0-0 draw at home to Ciudad Murcia. Only one point though separates Lucas Alcaraz's side from sixth placed Almería. The Andalusians had not won a game since the first week of January, and they could have gone behind when Luque brought a good save out of Julio Iglesias on the quarter hour mark. Camuñas brushed the post with a shot at the other end before the break, but Luque and Goitom both had chances for the visitors after the interval. Xerez were left with ten men for the last couple of minutes when Etxebe was sent off for a second bookable offence, but even so they were unfortunate not to have a penalty when Francis was brought down in injury time.

Meanwhile Real Murcia kept their slim hopes of promotion alive with a 1-0 win over Elche, taking them two points above their rivals. Neither side played attractive football though, Nino and Toledo wasting a couple of chances for the locals early on and Pedro León having a penalty appeal turned down at the other end before the break. The locals started strongly after the interval, and Richi headed the winner from León's free kick on the hour mark. The striker should have increased the lead when he hit the bar later on, but in the end it took a first class save by Juanmi from Toledo in the last minute to ensure the three points.

Albacete lost 1-2 to struggling Racing Ferrol, the Galicians getting the winner in injury time after the hosts had equalised a few minutes earlier. The visitors took the lead against the run of play midway through the first half when Juan Carlos latched on to a loose ball following Nacho's cross. Up to that point Bermejo, Juanlu and Bouzá had all wasted chances, but the Manchegans didn't beat Bouchard until twenty minutes from the end, when Cañas turned the ball in to the net after the defence failed to clear a corner. However with the game seemingly heading for a draw, Carlos took advantage of a lapse of concentration to nip in and score the winner which takes his side to within a point of getting out of the drop zone. (12.03.06)