Real Sociedad moved to within a point of the promotion spots after a 3-1 victory over Granada 74 on Saturday evening. All the goals came late on, with Víctor Casadesus opening the scoring from the penalty spot twelve minutes from the end after Delibasic was fouled. Martí made it two with a wide free kick and Víctor added a third in the last minute, with Xisco Nadal getting a consolation for the visitors in injury time. Earlier in the second half both Gerardo and Luque had missed penalties for their respective teams. The Basque side caught up two points on Sporting Gijón, who climbed above Málaga pending their game on Sunday after drawing 0-0 with Salamanca. Bruno hit the post for the visitors early on and Kike Mateo had a goal disallowed for a borderline offside a few minutes later, but otherwise both sides had to settle for a point.

Down in the lower reaches of the table, Xerez are out of the relegation spots after a last gasp 2-1 win over Castellón. The Andalusians were trailing to an Arana goal until the 89th minute, but Antoñito scored two in as many minutes to turn the scoreline around. The defeat ends any hope the visitors had of promotion. Racing Ferrol inched further away from the danger zone after a dull 0-0 draw with Tenerife. The Canary Islanders move up to ninth pending Sunday's games, but are still only seven points above the bottom four. Elsewhere Poli Ejido stay at the foot of the table after losing 2-1 to Las Palmas. Marcos Márquez got both goals for the hosts, the first with less than a minute on the clock and the second from the penalty spot early in the second half, with Gerardo equalising momentarily for the visitors late in the first half. (17.05.08)

Numancia will be in the first division next season after picking up the point they needed in a 0-0 draw with Alavés on Sunday lunchtime. With the visitors also content with a point to help them avoid the drop, neither side created too many chances throughout the ninety minutes. The fans didn't care though, and a packed stadium celebrated a return to the top flight after an absence of three years.

The other two promotion spots will probably not be decided until the last week or two of the season, third placed Málaga losing ground on Sporting Gijón and Real Sociedad after an extraordinary 4-6 defeat at the hands of Hércules later in the evening. The Andalusians were 3-1 up at half time, Hidalgo getting two early on (including a penalty for hands by a defender) and Hélder getting a third after Ismael had got one back. But strikes from Sendoa and Vélez levelled the scores, and with eight minutes to go Farinós put the visitors ahead after Hélder was sent off after giving away another penalty. Tote and Ismael added two more, and although Hidalgo completed his hat-trick in injury time it was to no avail.

Nobody else is close to the top four however, and Elche are already planning for another season in the second division after a 1-1 draw with Eibar. Codina put the Basque side ahead in the first minute, keeper Caballero injuring himself in to the bargain, but Rubén Suárez equalised half an hour later. Celta don't even have a mathematical chance of going up, although they answered criticisms from their fans with a 5-2 win over Cádiz. Jesús Perera and Quincy scored two each (one each in the first and second halves) and Jorge got a late penalty, with Dani and Barreiro replying after the interval for the Andalusians who ended the weekend only three points above the drop zone.

Gimnàstic are now level with Cádiz after a 1-0 victory over Sevilla Atlético, Moisés heading the only goal from Campano's cross five minutes after the break to extend the Catalans' unbeaten run to seven matches. And Córdoba inched out of the bottom four after a 0-1 win against fellow strugglers Albacete, Acciari's strike ten minutes after the restart taking them above Granada 74 and Alavés on goal difference, one point above the Manchegans who are back in next to bottom spot once again. (18.05.08)