Second Division - Day 42

Getafe and Rayo Vallecano may have been relegated from the first division, but Madrid will still have a third team in the top flight after Leganés beat Mirandés 0-1 on Saturday to tie up the second of the direct promotion posts. Although they had nothing at stake, the locals put up a good fight, Raúl Fernández making a string of top class saves before Pablo Insua headed the only goal following a corner at the start of the second half. Aridane felt himself unlucky to have a strike ruled out for a questionable offside decision later on in the second half, but Szymanowski, Gabriel and Timor could also have added to the lead at the other end. Garitano’s team go up for the first time in their 88 year history, joining the already promoted Alavés, who tied up the second division title after drawing 1-1 at Gimnàstic Tarragona. The Catalans started the day just a point behind Leganés in the table, and they kept up the pressure right up until late on in the match, Aníbal, Emaná, Lobato and De la Espada all going close before Xavi Molina headed in a corner midway through the second half. However with two minutes to go Manu Barreiro volleyed a shot past Reina following another corner to send the crowd home disappointed.

Nàstic still have another bite at the cherry though, and they will now play off for the last promotion spot together with Girona, Córdoba and also Osasuna, who won out on the head-to-head record in a three-way tie with Alcorcón and Zaragoza. It was a thrilling last weekend though, mathematicians working flat out as the situation changed every few minutes, and at half time all five contenders were level on 64 points. Girona though ended the day in fourth spot after they won 0-1 at Ponferradina, a result which meant that the home side were relegated to the second division B. A capacity crowd urged on the locals, and Andy hit the bar early on. However news came in that results elsewhere were going against them, and with five minutes to go Borja García set up Cristian Herrera for the winner. Córdoba meanwhile drew 1-1 at regional neighbours Almería, the point enough for the hosts to secure a place in the play-offs, and the visitors to save themselves from the drop. Quique González put Fernando Soriano’s team ahead with a shot from the edge of the area with just over half an hour gone, but Lolo Reyes got himself sent off on the stroke of half time for pushing Pedro Ríos in the face, and Pineda set up Raúl de Tomás for the equalizer after the restart. Mallorca also stay up after they came from a goal down to beat Valladolid 1-3, the win taking them out of the relegation zone above Almería and Ponferradina. Juan Villar opened the scoring for the locals in the eighth minute, but Brandon netted twice before the interval, and Pereira added a third on the hour mark to the great relief of the 700 or so travelling fans.

Osasuna ensured their place in top six after beating Oviedo 0-5, although they were actually out of the running until Girona got their late goal at Ponfe. Roberto Torres crossed in for Kodro to get the first shortly before the break, and then added two himself, the first a penalty after young debutant Josín was sent off for a foul on Kodro, and the second with a lob over veteran keeper Esteban. And in the last five minutes or so Oier and Nino scored two more for their biggest away win of the season. For a few minutes Alcorcón were in the play-off places, but despite a 4-1 win against Elche they missed out for another year. David Rodríguez put the locals in front before limping off with an injury, and Natxo Insa made it two from a Collantes cross a few minutes later. Fede Vega set up Campaña for the third with an hour gone, and Máyor got the fourth with a little help from visiting defender José Angel. With twelve minutes to go though Sergio León converted a penalty for the visitors his 22 nd of the season taking him ahead of Andone as the second division’s top scorer. Zaragoza crashed out of the top six after they were humiliated in a 6-2 defeat at the already relegated Llagostera, and coach Lluis Carreras announced that he was resigning soon after the match ended. The Maños actually began the weekend in fourth spot needing only a point to ensure their play-off place, but with half an hour gone Querol had already put the Catalans two up. Imaz and Querol added two more soon after the restart, and although a Jaime penalty and an Angel strike put them back in the game, goals by Querol and Pitu completed the rout. Some joy for the Catalans at least to end the season, and a massive help for their next-door neighbours Girona as well.

Three matches with nothing at stake kicked off earlier on Saturday afternoon, bottom club Bilbao Athletic finishing their campaign with a 2-0 victory over Tenerife. Unai Bilbao headed the Basque side into the lead from a free kick midway through the first half, and Jurgi got the second from Villalibre’s headed pass some four minutes in to the second half. Albacete were also relegated a couple of weekends ago, and they lost 2-0 in their last match at Numancia. Both goals came after the interval, Alex Alegría opening the scoring following an assist from Del Pino, who was playing his last game before retiring. The result was in doubt however until Julio Alvarez wrapped things up from the penalty spot in injury time. Huesca had also been in the drop zone up until a month ago, when a run of three wins and a draw saw them climb clear, and they rounded things off with a 1-0 victory over Lugo. Tyronne scored the only goal for the Aragón based side after the interval, and the Galicians ended with eight men after Seoane, De Coz and Sergio Marcos were all sent off in the last twenty minutes or so. (04.06.16)