If you are not a member yet, you can sign up here

Second Division - Day 12

Villarreal B finally laid the ghost of Friday evenings, a 1-0 victory over Numancia ending a run of four defeats in matches kicking off at that time. Iago Falqué got what was to prove the only goal of the game in the first minute, lobbing Edu Navarro after picking up a pass from Marquitos. Iñigo Vélez hit the bar for the visitors a few minutes later, and Diego Mariño had to pull off a last minute save from Del Pino, but the youngsters held on for three valuable points which takes them back up in to the top half of the table. (12.11.10)

Betis are proving unstoppable this season, and they moved five points clear at the top of the second division after a 3-1 victory over neighbours Xerez. Local keeper Goitia made a couple of important saves early on before Moreno fouled Isidoro inside the penalty area later in the first half, Jorge Molina stepping up to convert the kick for his first goal since returning from a long injury lay-off. Soon after the restart though the visitors equalised with a second penalty, Oscar Díaz the scorer after Nacho had brought down ex Betis forward José Marí. And the result was in doubt until the last five minutes, when Salva Sevilla set up Molina twice to complete his hat-trick and keep up Betis's 100% record at home.

Rayo Vallecano stay in second spot despite being held to a 1-1 draw at Albacete. The locals went ahead in only the fifth minute when Sousa connected with a cross from Antonio López, and Baró could have added to the lead when he hit the bar soon afterwards. Rayo came back after the restart though, Trejo having a shot cleared off the line by Tarantino before Armenteros took advantage of a bad clearance by De la Cuesta to equalise ten minutes in to the second half. And after that only a couple of good saves by Keylor Navas from Lucas and Movilla prevented the visitors with coming away with the three points.

A win at Granada earlier in the evening could have taken Barcelona Athletic above Rayo to second, and although Carmona gave them an early lead they ended up losing 4-1. The hero of the evening was Granada centre forward Geijo, who scored four times to move to the top of the second division Pichichi chart with eleven. The Swiss born striker headed in an Abel Gómez corner to equalise ten minutes before the break, and ran on to lob keeper Oier to give his side the lead seven minutes after the restart. Midway through the second half Geijo completed his hat-trick after the keeper had saved a first effort, and with eight minutes to go he connected with another assist from Abel to make it what is known here as a "poker".

The win takes Granada up in to the play-off spots, just ahead of Las Palmas who were held to a last minute 1-1 draw by Girona. Alvaro Cejudo took advantage of a bad clearance by ex Las Palmas keeper Santamaría to open the scoring on the quarter hour mark, and Pignol came close to a second when he hit the post later in the first half. The visitors responded after the interval with a Jandro free kick which was deflected by a defender on to the bar, and with the game in injury time Jandro converted a hotly disputed penalty after the referee ruled that Dani Carril had pushed Peragón in the area. Both sides played the last half hour with ten men after Chechu and Samuel were sent off within a minute of each other for second bookable offences.

The other two matches on Saturday evening involved teams in the lower reaches of the table, and both ended without goals. After their win at Tenerife last weekend, a victory against Elche would have taken Gimnàstic out of the relegation spots. However they were held to a 0-0 draw in the Nou Estadi, and have to wait at least another week before they can escape from the drop zone. Chances were few and far between until the floodlights failed with a quarter of an hour to go. However when things resumed fifteen minutes later the game finally came to life, keepers Rubén Pérez and Willy Caballero having to make important saves from Palanca and Morán respectively.

Tenerife themselves stay firmly at the bottom of the table despite a 0-0 draw at Huesca. It was a logical result given that the locals have yet to win at home (only scoring one goal in all that time) and the Canary Islanders have not won away, although it took a great performance by visiting keeper Sergio Aragoneses to keep the scoreline level at the break. Luna also had to clear off the line from Camacho with the keeper beaten, but towards the end of the game Tenerife came back, and Julio Alvarez came close to winning it for the visitors late on. (13.11.10)

A thrilling match at Valladolid on Sunday lunchtime, where the locals beat promotion rivals Celta 3-2 thanks to an injury time winner from Jorge López. Antonio Gómez's side took the lead in the fourth minute when Nauzet beat Falcón with a volley from right of the area. But by half time the Galicians had turned things around, keeper Jacobo failing to stop shots from Trashorras and then De Lucas, with David Rodríguez hitting the post in between. Javi Guerra levelled the scores again though midway through the second half, and in the last ten minutes things started to heat up, Roberto Lago getting sent off for a second yellow card and then Pedro López and Hugo Mallo following him down the tunnel as players clashed on the pitch. With the game in the third minute of time added on though Jorge Alonso got on the end of Javi Guerra's cross to win the game and take his side to within a point of their opponents in the table.

Valladolid's win also takes them above regional rivals Salamanca, who were beaten 3-2 by Ponferradina later in the evening. The locals went two up the break, Del Olmo opening the scoring after Biel Ribas could only push out Saizar's shot, and De Paula picking up Saizar's pass to make it two. And when Saizar scored the third himself just three minutes after the restart, beating the keeper at the second attempt after Perico had cleared a first shot off the line, it appeared to be all over. However Perico pulled one back midway through the second half, and Marcos Márquez scored a second with four minutes to go to set up a nail-biting finish.

The victory takes Ponferradina out of the drop zone, and Recreativo are now just a point away from safety after beating Cartagena 3-0. The Huelva based side had not won a game all season, but they started well and visiting keeper Casilla had to be at his best to keep out Aitor a couple of times in the first half. All the goals though came after the restart, with Acuña and Lamas getting on the end of corners midway through the second half to put the Andalusians two up. And with the game already in injury time Dani added the third on a quick breakaway to get caretaker coach Carlos Ríos off to a good start. (14.11.10)

One second division match on Monday evening this week, with Alcorcón beating Córdoba 2-1 to end a run of five defeats in a row. All the goals came before the break, Quini opening the scoring after picking up a loose ball on the quarter hour mark, and then putting the locals two up with a header from Nagore's cross a few minutes later (a goal which takes him level with Granada's Geijo at the top of the Pichichi chart). Substitute Oriol Riera headed one back from Arteaga's free kick though five minutes before the half time whistle, and Charles came close to saving a point for the visitors when he hit the post in the second half. The game ended with red cards for Samuel and Jorge Luque, both of whom picked up second yellow cards in the closing minutes. (15.11.109