Second division, day 22

Real Murcia are the only side who are anywhere near Valladolid, and they consolidated second spot with a 1-0 win over Salamanca on Sunday lunchtime. Pedro León got the goal after the break, but the visitors missed a last minute penalty. Almería stay in third spot despite a 2-1 defeat at Tenerife, Raúl Sánchez and Iriome getting the goals for the Canary Islanders to take them away from the danger zone. But Cádiz are now only two points behind them after coming from a goal down to beat bottom club Vecindario, Medina and Nano scoring twice in a minute after ex Cádiz striker Mirosavljevic had given the locals the lead.

Poli Ejido joined the promotion race after beating fellow contenders Ciudad Murcia 2-0, both goals coming early in the game from Víctor Salas and Ortíz. Elche clocked up their third win in a row under new manager David Vidal to move away from the bottom spots, Gastón Casas getting the only goal as they beat Alavés 1-0. Málaga and Hércules cancelled each other out though in a 0-0 draw, leaving both floating around mid-table. (28.01.07)

Valladolid started the second half of the season as they had ended the first, a 1-0 victory over Sporting Gijón taking them nine points clear of their nearest rivals pending Sunday's games. García Calvo got the only goal of the game on the stroke of half time, and the visitors had two men sent off in the second half. Xerez faltered once again in their fight to get back into the promotion spots though, a 0-0 draw against Las Palmas leaving them still four points off the top three.

Las Palmas stay down in the relegation spots, and Ponferradina move level with them on points after a thrilling 4-3 win over Albacete. The Castilla-León side were three up in just half an hour, but two from new signing Calle took the visitors close to an epic comeback. Lorca drop further down into the relegation zone after drawing 1-1 against Numancia, even though an injury time strike from Maikel saved them a point, and Castilla are now only two points above the bottom four after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Castellón. (27.01.07)