The second legs of the
play-off semi-finals took place today, with eight teams qualifying for the four
finals. Rayo Vallecano made it through to the finals for the second year
in a row after a narrow 1-0 victory over Benidorm. Pepe Mel's side took
the lead with a Llorens penalty midway through the first half after Pablo
Cendros handled in the area. The game was held up though for almost half an
hour after a fence collapsed as fans surged forward to celebrate the goal,
thankfully without serious consequences. Rayo's opponents in the group A final
will be Zamora, who won 1-2 away at Linares. The visitors went
ahead in the seventh minute when Iker Alegre beat Moso, and although ex Spanish
international striker Catanha equalised with twenty minutes to go, Senel got
the winner near the end.
Ponferradina are in
with a chance of returning to the second division at the first attempt after
knocking out Mérida in their group B match. The 1-2 victory in
the first leg gave them a big advantage, and when Ernesto opened the scoring in
the eighth minute the León based side appeared to have everything tied
up. But a strike by Juli Ferrer soon after restart made it 1-1 on the night,
setting up a nail-biting finish. They will have a tough opponent though in
Alicante, who almost beat them two years ago in one of the promotion
finals. The west coast side won 3-0 against Canary Islanders
Fuerteventura, ex Sevilla winger Luis Gil having a hand in all three
goals which were scored by Capi, Cañadas and Joan Tomás.
Southern regional champions
Écija overturned a first leg defeat to beat Deportivo B 3
-0 in their group C match. Pepe Díaz put them ahead on the half hour
mark but then got himself sent off soon after the break. But even so strikes
from Luna and Requena saw them through against the youngsters, who olny came up
from the regional third division last season. They will meet Huesca, who
knocked out Gavà on the away goal rule after a 1-1 draw in their
Alcoraz stadium. Lalo opened the scoring for the locals with a well struck free
kick, but the Catalans equalised through Rubén just two minutes after
the restart.
Girona are through to
the group D final after beating Barakaldo 2-0. Miki Albert put them
ahead with just under a quarter of an hour on the clock, but local keeper Rafa
Ponzo was the hero after that, saving a Beltrán penalty in the second
half before Xumetra wrapped things up near the end. The Catalans will meet
Ceuta, who surprised Pontevedra winning 1-2 in Galicia after a
1-1 draw in the first leg. The North Africans took lead with a controversial
strike from Javi Navarro on the stroke of half time, the home side's Turiel not
being allowed back on the park at the time by the referee after going off to be
attended for an injury. Fran Amedo got a second though midway through the
second half, and Gato's last minute strike came too late to change the result.
The relegation play-offs
were also decided this weekend, with Villajoyosa and Baza going down to the
regional third division. Villajoyosa lost 0-1 at home to Osasuna
B, ending a run of five seasons in the second division B. Ione got the only
goal for the visitors a quarter of an hour in to the second half. And
Baza were beaten 3-1 in a penalty shoot out by Villa Santa
Brigida after 210 minutes without a goal by either side, the second leg
ending the same as the first, 0-0. (01.06.08) |