Gimnastic Tarragona are the overnight leaders of the second division after beating Elche 1-0 on Saturday evening, a club record eleven games in a row without defeat. The Catalans started well, with Diego Torres and Carlos Merino both shooting wide in the first ten minutes, but Rubén Suárez led the fight-back, putting local keeper Rubén Pérez to the test a couple of times before the break. Pinilla went close for the locals soon after the restart and Rubén and Benja replied for the visitors, but with twenty minutes to go Buades won a corner from Unanua. And when the ball came across, substitute Pere Martí headed it back past his own keeper to give the home side the three points and take them above Recreativo pending their game on Sunday.

Almería moved up to third in the table after a 1-0 win over Lorca, who themselves drop out of the promotion spots as a result. Ortíz got what was to be the only goal of the match for Paco Flores's side in the twentieth minute of the game after good work by Soriano and Kalu Uche. And they could have gone further ahead before the break, Uche testing Jauregui a couple of times and Manolo just missing the target. De Carlos came close for the Murcia based team either side of half time, but Francisco could have wrapped things up had Fernando Vega not cleared his effort away from goal near the end.

Ciudad Murcia kept their hopes of promotion alive after coming from behind to beat Lleida 3-1, and they move up the table to seventh. The Catalans took the lead against the run of play on the hour mark when Oscar Rubio beat Jaime with a shot from the edge of the area, but Luque made it all square from the penalty spot after Dani Marín handled in the area shortly before half time. Visiting keeper Rangel kept out efforts from Goitom and Luque after the restart, and Gibanel shot wide before picking up a pass from Kome to put the locals ahead. And Kome finished things off a few minutes later after Goitom had hit the post to leave Lleida just three points off the bottom four.

Albacete and Real Murcia cancelled each other out in a 0-0 draw which leaves both sides floating around mid-table. The Manchegans have had a mixed sort of season, a poor start being compensated by a winning run, but once again they are dropping down after six games without taking the three points. As usual they began the match on top, Mario Bermejo missing an early chance, but they soon petered out and Cuadrado should have won it for the visitors when he failed to beat keeper Rubén Martín with the goal at his mercy near the end.

Hércules moved away from the danger zone after a 1-0 victory over Tenerife, who themselves drop below the Alicante based side. The locals took the lead with just under half an hour gone after the referee awarded them a hotly disputed penalty for a foul by Fagiani on Castro, Bernardo saving Moisés's kick but the striker heading in the rebound. The Canary Islanders had a penalty appeal for hands turned down before the break, but they did get one a few minutes after the restart after César Belli was sandwiched between Manolo Pérez and Schiavi. However Moso (who had only come on at the interval to replace the injured Sergio Sánchez) guessed correctly and saved Cristian Alvarez's spot kick. (25.03.06)

Levante failed to return to the promotion spots after they could only draw 0-0 at Real Madrid Castilla on Sunday lunchtime, although they were happy to settle for a point after keeper Cavallero was sent off in the first minute for handling the ball outside of the area. His replacement Aizpurúa was to be the star of the match though, keeping out a Soldado header soon after coming on and stopping efforts from Soldado and De la Red later in the first half. Mané ordered his side to sit back and look for the breakaway, and they almost got it when Courtois hit the post and then Reggi brought a good save out of Cobeño soon after the restart. Aizpurúa was in action late on though to stop Javi García and Soldado, and Adrian Martín hit the post near the end.

Recreativo moved back to the top of the table after a 3-0 win over Racing Ferrol. The Andalusians had their work cut out in the first half though, and the only real chance was a strike by Gastón Casas which was ruled out for a borderline offside. Aira hit the woodwork following a corner for the visitors soon after the restart, but a few minutes later they were left with ten men when Bordeau was shown a second yellow card. After that the floodgates opened, with Gastón Casas opening the scoring with a brilliant run from the halfway line to beat Bouchard, Uche adding a second with another individualist effort, and Casas setting up Rosu for a third all within a six minute period. The result left the Galicians further down in the drop zone.

It was another low scoring weekend though, and there was a third 0-0 draw between Xerez and Sporting Gijón, leaving both further away from the top spots. The locals had not won in nine games before this one, and although they had the higher possession of the ball they did not trouble Roberto until Moreno volleyed just wide on the half hour mark. Javi Fuego tried his luck at the other end, but the best chance fell to García Granero who fired a free kick just wide of the Asturians' goal. Pedro Ríos had a couple of chances after the restart and Geijo had a penalty appeal turned down, but in the end the match fizzled out to a draw.

Numancia are going from strength to strength though, and they made it six homes win in a row after beating Valladolid 3-2. Both sides had chances before Montenegro beat Bizzarri to open the scoring midway through the first half, and Juan Pablo saved from Tote before Rubén López got on the end of Montenegro's free kick to put the home side two up before the break. Juan Pablo saved again from Llorente and Víctor, and Oscar Sánchez went close before Llorente headed one back ten minutes in to the second half. Correa levelled the scores after connecting with a cross from the left, but with the game heading for a draw Ramis gave away a penalty on Del Pino which Montenegro converted to win the match. Valladolid ended with ten men when O.J. Morales picked up a second booking in injury time.

Further down the table, Poli Ejido beat Málaga B 0-1 to move away from the danger zone for the time being. The only goal of the game came on the quarter hour mark when Toedtli controlled a pass from Marcos Navas to beat Nauzet. After that the local keeper was to be his side's best player, especially with saves from Pedro Vega and Víctor Salas in the second half. The youngsters only tested Kike once in the first half with a long effort from Usero, although Abel could have saved a point when he fired a free kick against the bar in the final minutes. The result leaves Málaga B in next to bottom spot, and with their first team looking ever more likely to be relegated as well, their hopes of staying up appear slim.

Eibar are also in trouble after losing 2-0 to fellow strugglers Castellón, and they stay firmly anchored to the bottom of the table. The locals went close early on when Etxeberría saved a header from Kenji Fukuda, but soon afterwards the Japanese striker got on the end of another cross from Héctor to open the scoring. David Asensio and new signing Magallanes both put Oliva to the test as the Basque side threw everything forward in the second half. But with Azkoitia sent off for a second bookable offence, Zamora wrapped things up with an angled shot in injury time. It was a bad start for Eibar's new coach Javi Pérez, who was also shown the red card near the end for protesting. (26.03.06)