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Second Division B - play-offs, day 2

Tenerife will be joining Alavés in the second division next season after a 3-2 aggregate win over L'Hospitalet in their regional group champions play.off. The Canary Islanders came in to the second leg in Catalunya with a 3-1 advantage from the first game, but after Cirio beat Aragoneses to make it 1-0 early in the second half the result was in doubt until the final whistle. L´Hospitalet themselves now go in to the second stage of the play-offs for the remaining two promotion spots, where they and Jaén will be joined by Huracán, Athletic Bilbao B, Oviedo, Eibar, Lleida and Caudal, who all won their respective ties this weekend.

Huracán won through on Saturday, and under the play-off rules their opponents in the semi-finals will certainly be Athletic Bilbao B, who knocked out Levante B despite a 2-2 draw in the last official game in the old San Mamés stadium. The Basque side were 1-2 up from the first leg, and Bustinza put them further in front in the ninth minute. Roger equalised before the break though, and although Eizmendi restored the lead immediately after the restart, Roger made it all square again from the penalty spot after Bustinza was red carded some five minutes later. However Athletic held on after that to ensure their place in the next round.

The second semi-final will pair together Oviedo and Eibar, two teams with a long history in the professional leagues. Oviedo were beaten 2-1 by Albacete, another club with a long tradition in the first two divisions, although the away goal was enough to take the Asturians through after a 1-0 victory in the first leg. Calle headed the Manchegans in to the lead following a corner early in the second half, but Manu Bustos levelled the scores just two minutes later, and although Calle converted a penalty with twenty minutes to go after Jorge Díaz was fouled in the area, the visitors held on for the aggregate win. Eibar themselves knocked out Alcoyano on the away goal rule, Diego Jiménez making it 1-1 in the last minute of the match after Alvaro had given the visitors the lead with a quarter of an hour to go. The first leg had ended 2-2.

Lleida and Caudal will have to wait until tomorrow to see who they face, with regional group winners L'Hospitalet and Real Jaén their potential opponents. Lleida beat Leganés 3-2 on aggregate, a controversial second leg ending 1-1 to take the Catalans through. A second half injury to the referee extended the game by fifteen minutes, and although Pirez put the Madrid based ahead with a sixty seconds of normal time to go, Mario scored the equaliser in the 103rd minute. Meanwhile Caudal won 0-1 at Cartagena to ensure their place in the semi-finals, Nacho scoring the only goal following a corner shortly before half time to give the Asturians a chance of promotion in their first season at this level.

It was a bad weekend for Zaragoza, their first team going down on Saturday and Zaragoza B also relegated on Sunday after losing their play-off 0-1 to Constancia. The Maños had little chance of saving themselves however after a 5-1 defeat in Mallorca in the first leg, and a quarter of an hour into the second half Biel Guasp made sure of the result, beating keeper Alcolea with a long shot frm inside his own half which went in off the post. Constancia now play Zamora over two legs to decide which of the two saves themselves, although with many clubs facing relegation for financial reasons, both could stay up in the end. (02.06.13)

Alavés are the first side to be promoted to the second division A after a 1-0 win over Real Jaén in the second leg of their group champions play-off on Saturday evening. Not long after reaching the UEFA cup final, the Vitoria based side were relegated right down to the second division B, where they have been languishing for the last four seasons. However a late 1-1 draw in Andalusia last weekend gave them hope, and with a quarter of an hour to go Viguera converted a penalty after Gaitán tripped Juanma in the area to the delight of the 18,000 crowd in the Mendizorroza stadium. "El Glorioso" are back!.

Jaén still have a second chance though, and they enter stage two of the play-offs together with the six winners from the other ties. One of those will be Huracán, who overturned a 1-0 defeat from the first leg at Lucena with a 3-0 victory in their Municipal stadium in Valencia. Two goals by Fabiani and Pomares in a four minute period midway through the first half put them on their way, and Carreño wrapped things up later on. It was a hard fought game though, with no less than four red cards in the last eight minutes, and the visitors made a formal protest after hooligans threw stones through the windows of the team bus on its arrival.

The play-offs to avoid relegation are also taking place, Villanovense the first side to go down despite a 3-2 win over Zamora. The Extremadura based team appeared to be down and out after losing the first leg at Zamora 3-0, but they made it all square with strikes by Jorge Pina and Willy, and a penalty by Oscar. With the game in extra time though Kike Alcázar put through his own net, and Granada put the game beyond the reach of the locals with a second goal near the end . (01.06.13)