With the first division resting for international weekend, six second division matches were brought forward to Saturday evening. And Albacete and Xerez took advantage to clock up their second wins and head the table with maximum points. Albacete beat Elche 1-2, both goals coming from Parri against his old side. The ex Valencia midfielder put the visitors ahead with a hotly disputed penalty after Diego Alegre was brought down by Pere Martí, the referee turning down claims that the foul was outside the area. Ten minutes before the break the locals equalised when Miguel headed Manolo Pérez's cross past Valbuena, but Parri restored the lead with a well struck free kick after the restart. And when Gastón Casas was shown a red card with a quarter of an hour still to go it was all over.

Xerez won 2-0 against last weekend's joint leaders Ciudad Murcia to join Albacete at the top. With Goitom on international duty and Luque suspended, Saizar lead the visiting attack, but he wasted the best chance of the first half with only the keeper to beat. Local coach Pepe Murcia included Geijó in his line up despite his controversial "transfer" to Levante (still pending a court decision), and he put the problem behind him to combine with Camuñas to set up Pedro Ríos for the opener five minutes after the restart, and then to score the second himself a few minutes later thanks to some slack defending.

Elsewhere Tote returned to Real Madrid's territory to lead Hércules to a 0-3 win over Castilla. The Alfredo Di Stéfano stadium wasn't built when the striker left the fold, but within twenty-five minutes he had his name on the scoreboard after Juanlu's shot was blocked. Two minutes later Javi García was sent off, supposedly for treading on Tote (although he protested his innocence), and Tote hit the bar again before scoring his second of the night on the hour mark with an angled shot. Santacruz had struck the post at the other end a few minutes earlier with a free kick, and numbers were evened up when De los Santos picked up a second booking. But substitute Sendoa made it three after Farinós set him up, Agassa saved a penalty from Negredo, and only some first class saves from young keeper Adán prevented the scoreline from getting any bigger.

A first win away from home too for Sporting Gijón, who beat Lorca 0-2. The locals could have taken the lead when Kiko hit the post before the break, but Barral headed home Pedro's free kick to put the Asturians ahead ten minutes after the restart. Omar made it two midway through the second half, also following a dead ball kick, and Manolo Preciado's side held on despite losing Samuel to a second yellow card later on.

A festival atmosphere at Vecindario, where the newly promoted side beat Castellón 4-2 to record their first ever win in the second division. The Canary Islanders fell behind in only the sixth minute when Mario Rosas beat Oliver, but on-loan Deportivo La Coruña striker Xisco levelled the scores close to half time after keeper Raúl Jiménez could only turn Ciani's cross in to his path. Another mistake by Raúl early in the second half allowed Xisco to score his second following Yeray's free kick, and although Tavares equalised again after a poor clearance by Oliver, Dorta restored the lead from Yeray's cross soon afterwards. And with the game coming to a close, Mora put through his own net for the final result.

The first three points as well for Real Murcia, who beat Almería 3-2 in a bad tempered match. Iván Alonso put the locals ahead after Valerio pulled up thinking the referee had blown his whistle for offside, when in reality he had waved play on. Almería were left with ten men when Acasiete was sent off for elbowing Alonso, but the East coast side still turned the scoreline around either side of half time, Ortíz deflecting in an effort from Mané to equalise and Kalu Uche heading in Mané's cross after the restart. But De Palmas got himself sent off as well after giving away a penalty which Aranda converted, and the away side were left with eight men when Ortíz was also shown a straight red with a quarter of the game still to go. Iván Alonso took advantage of another poor clearance to strike home the winner, and there was still time for a fourth sending off, this time Murcia's Aranda for a hard tackle on Mané. (02.09.06)

Five sides are tying for top spot at the end of the second weekend after Valladolid, Cádiz and Málaga all won, although Valladolid lead the pack thanks to a 2-0 win over Las Palmas on Sunday lunchtime. Mendilibar's side were always in control, with Llorente opening the scoring from Víctor's cross with just over a quarter of an hour gone. Sisi and De la Cuesta both went close before Iñaki Bea got on the end of Alvaro Antón's corner twenty minutes in to the second half to wrap things up.

Cádiz are second though after beating Tenerife 0-1 later in the day. Both sides came in to the game having won their opening matches, but the first real effort didn't come until late in the first half when the locals' new signing Luis Gil hit the post from a free kick. The visitors put Bernanrdo to the test though several times either side of half time, particularly from De Paula and Medina, and with a quarter of an hour to go Jonathan Sesma drove home the winner with a shot from the edge of the area.

Málaga are also on maximum points after defeating Alavés 1-0. Chances were few and far between in the first half, Brandán almost catching Arnau off his line with a long shot which hit the post and Salva heading over at the other end. The Andalusians went ahead though thanks to an own goal, Carpintero deflecting Salva's effort past his own keeper following a cross from Calleja seven minutes in to the second half, and Chengue Morales could have increased the scoreline had he not failed to convert Sandro's cross near the end.

Ponferradina followed in the footsteps of Vecindario, recording their first ever victory at this level after beating Numancia 2-0. Rubén Vega opened the scoring in only the sixth minute, heading home Diego Ribera's cross to send the fans in the Toralín stadium wild. Fran combined with Ribera to score the second some five minutes in to the second half, and although Goikoetxea threw his men forward, keeper Rubio did the rest.

Curiously there were no draws at all in the second division this weekend. Poli Ejido bounced back after their first day defeat, a second half goal giving them a 1-0 victory over Salamanca. The newly promoted side had come away from the Santo Domingo stadium with points in their last four visits, but they were over-run in a first half in which Pedro Vega in particular wasted three or four chances. With an hour on the clock the hosts were awarded a penalty when Felip fouled Ortíz, and although the keeper saved Vega's spot kick, Cristian scored on the rebound. (03.09.06)