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Second Division - Day 12

Girona are up to second in the table pending the rest of the weekend's results after a 0-1 win at Murcia on Saturday evening. Botk keepers were in action in the first half, Dani Mallo saving from Acciari and Matilla, and Javi Jiménez keeping out Marcos Tébar. Seven minutes in to the second half however Benja got what was to prove the only goal, connecting with Juanlu's cross to fire in a shot which hit both posts before crossing the line. Mallo was called upon after that to save from Català, Oscar Sánchez and Cristian García, but after Eddy was sent off in the dying minutes, there was no way of preventing a first home defeat of the season for the locals. Villarreal missed out on a chance of making it up in to the direct promotion spots though after they could only draw 1-1 at Numancia. The Soria based side had lost their last three games, but they had the better of the first half, with Sunny in particular hitting the post near the break. The visitors took the lead though with a quarter of an hour to go when Cani set up substitute Trigueros to beat Herrerín just a minute or so after coming on, and Musacchio hit the bar soon afterwards. However with three minutes to go the locals saved a point when Bruno headed a corner in to his own net under pressure from Regalón.

Alcorcón stay level with Villarreal after they were beaten 2-1 by Racing Santander. The Madrid based side had won their last three games, but they went behind when Goikoetxea got on the end of Ferreiro's corner to beat Manu Fernández in the eighteenth minute. Jairo made it two for the Cantabrians after Ferreiro and Bouazza combined to set him up midway through the second half, and an injury time consolation goal from Fernando Sales came too late to prevent Fabri's side from clocking up their first win since day six. Barcelona B also lost out on a chance to close up on the teams above them after they were beaten 3-0 by Mirandés on a wet night in Miranda de Ebro. Iribar headed wide before beating Oier with an angled shot on the half hour mark, and Díaz De Cerio added two more after the break, the first on the far post after a corner was headed on, and the second after running on to a long ball out of defence before rounding the keeper to score. It was a first win in the for the locals in their Anduva stadium since being promoted, although they stay down in the bottom four despite the victory. (03.11.12)

Three games this week on Sunday lunchtime, Córdoba closing up to within a point of the play-off spots after beating Guadalajara 1-0. It was a rainy day throughout Spain, but the visitors mastered the conditions the better of the two, with Azkorra hitting the post early on. The Andalusians were left with ten men when Gaspar picked up a second booking with ten minutes to go, but even so Rennella got on the end of a Fede Vico cross to score the winner. The defeat leaves Guadalajara still at the bottom of the table, but Hércules are only two points above them after they lost 1-5 to Xerez. With only an hour on the clock the Andalusians were already four up, Alvaro Rey getting the first with a direct free kick in the fourth minute, and Israel making it two with a shot which looped in off a defender. Two minutes after the interval Lucas Porcar headed the third from Rey's cross, and Tato scored the fourth soon afterwards. With twenty minutes to go Edu Bedía got one back, but Tato got his second of the day two minutes later to wrap things up, a shocking start for coach Quique Hernández in his first game in charge at the Rico Pérez stadium.

More rain in Huesca, where the locals drew 2-2 with Real Madrid Castilla in a match which at times looked more like water-polo than football! Juanfran took advantage of a ball stuck in a puddle of water to give the youngsters the lead midway through the first half, but soon afterwards Casado was sent off for a hard tackle on David Vázquez, and four minutes after the restart Diogo levelled the scores with a header from a Vázquez corner. Denis Cherychev (recently called up by Capello's Russia) restored the lead twenty minutes in to the second half with an individualist goal, but with a quarter of an hour to go Iván González turned Camacho's cross in to his own net, and both sides ended with ten men after Helguera was shown a second yellow card near the end.

Later in the evening leaders Elche suffered their second away defeat in a row after they lost 1-0 at Lugo. Carles Gil and Etxeita both wasted chances for the visitors early on, and Fran Escribá's side felt themselves hard done by when referee De Burgos Bengoetxea disallowed a strike by Fidel shortly before the break for the positional offside of a team-mate. Lugo too had their complaints against the referee when he turned down a clear penalty appeal by Héctor Font, but with ten minutes to go they got the winning goal from a hotly disputed free kick, Oscar Díaz getting on the end of Tonetto's centre to beat Manu Herrera. Almería move back up to second, now just two points behind Elche, after beating Recreativo 0-2. The Huelva based side had won all five of their previous home games, but they went behind when Raúl García caught Alejandro off his line with a long shot in the twentieth minute, and Mejía headed the second from Verza's free kick on the hour mark. Brozek went close a couple of times for the locals, but Alejandro had to be at his best to prevent Aarón from making it three near the end.

Sporting Gijon's recent revival under new coach Sandoval hit a bit of a hiccup after they were held to a 0-0 draw by Sabadell. The Asturians were on a roll after two wins in the league and a cup victory against first division Osasuna, but Nauzet kept out Bilic early on, and Moha cleared another effort off the line a few minutes later. Juan Pablo did well to save from Dávila later in the first half and Carmona fired a free kick just over the bar near the end, but finally both coaches seyyled for a point. Further down the table Las Palmas moved out of the relegation zone thanks to a 1-0 victory over Ponferradina, their fifth victory in a row including their midweek cup win against Rayo Vallecano. The visitors were left a man short when Carlos Ruíz picked up a second booking shortly before the break, and Javi Guerrero got the only goal in the third minute of the second half after Barbosa failed to clear Pignol's cross, (04.11.12)