| Second Division B - play-off finals, second leg | |
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There will be two more Canary Island sides in the second division A next season after Las Palmas and Vecindario won their respective finals on Saturday evening. Las Palmas beat Linares 1-0 in front of a crowd of over 30,000, more than enough to take them through after the 2-2 scoreline in last weekend's first leg. Marcos Márquez headed the only goal of the game from Nauzet Alemán's cross just a minute in to the second half, and keeper Pindado did the rest as the home side held on for the last half hour with ten men after Víctor was sent off. With a couple of minutes still to go the fans invaded the pitch thinking it was all over, and it took several minutes before calm could be restored. The game ended soon afterwards though, taking Las Palmas back up after two years in the regional division. Las Palmas were always one of the favourites to go up, but their Gran Canaria neighbours Vecindario were rank outsiders at the start of the season. However they won through for the first time in their history, beating Levante B 3-2 on aggregate despite losing the second leg 2-1. Yago turned in a Limones corner in only the eighth minute to give the home side the lead, but their hopes were dashed thanks to a controversial penalty early in the second half after Sergio Villanueva was fouled by José Serrano on the edge of the area, the referee overturning a decision by his linesman to point to the spot. Raúl Borrero converted the kick, and Aarón's strike a quarter of an hour from the end came too late to change the result. (24.06.06) The other two finals took place on Sunday evening. Salamanca return to the second division A just one year after being relegated thanks to a 1-0 win over Sevilla B, and the other side from Castilla-León, Ponferradina, surprised Alicante with a 0-1 victory to join their neighbours in the "silver" division. Salamanca are the only divisional group champions to win promotion after a 1-0 victory over a young Sevilla B team who were themselves looking to put the icing on the cake of their club's centenary year. Around 14,000 fans were in the Helmántico stadium to see their side dominate the first half, but they were unable to break down a well ordered defence until just after the hour mark, when Venezuela's Miku picked up a pass from Jacobo to score. A couple of minutes later the visitors were left with ten men when Bruno picked up a second booking, but with a score draw enough to take the Andalusians through after the goal-less result in the first leg, there were some nervous moments for the home fans before the final whistle. Ponferradina travelled to Alicante the underdogs after a 1-1 draw in their home town of Ponferrada last week, but a late goal gave them a 0-1 victory and a place in the second division A for the first time in their history. The home side were on top throughout the first half, with Sendoa rattling the woodwork twice. But the visitors came back after the restart, and carved out a couple of chances before Fran fired in a shot from the edge of the area five minutes from the end. The locals finished with ten men after Tito picked up a second booking, and they will have to wait another year at least before joining city neighbours Hércules in the second division A. As expected, Castillo are the last team to be relegated after losing 2-0 at Baza. The Canary Islanders were up against it after a 0-1 defeat in the home leg, and by half time strikes by Mario Carrizosa and Aldo Adorno put the result beyond their reach. The seventeen sides who are going down to the regional third division are now known, and the seventeen sides who won promotion this weekend to replace them are as follows: Group A:
Cobeño, Lugo, Guijuelo, Universidad Oviedo; The promotion and relegation spots are still of course subject to any changes due to automatic relegation of any club who are not up to date with payments to their players by the end of July. (25.06.06) |
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