With a second consecutive 3-0 win, CD Marino served notice that they are top of their Tercera Division group on merit and ready to repel all challengers. Last weeks triple came at Union Puerto, this week Villa Santa Brigida from Gran Canaria felt the full force of well organised, confident, and hard working team display.

Santa Brigida may have been at the foot of the table but they were a big, strong side willing to attack from the off. Their direct style caused a few early problems and just 10 minutes into the game Rodo slipped the home defence and fired at the open goal. David flew across the line and tipped the shot aside. Marino took the warning on board and clicked into top gear, Diego picked out Samuel on the left and the visitors defence had to make a swift clearance. Charni carved out an opening, a pass to Zeben in space might have produced the blues opener, instead a shot went straight to Jonay in goal. Samuel had too much pace for the Brigida defence, he ran onto a well measured floated ball from Roy but could only crash it into the side netting.

Nami was purposeful and mobile up front, he left three defenders in his wake as he headed for goal before setting Roy up for a free header. Brigida were already floundering, Uday tried a quick break only to find Nikki waiting to win the ball from him at right back. Even marking Marino players was proving tough, Samuel continually sped down the left to beat their offside trap, a clever chip nearly broke the deadlock. Staying alert is helping Marino to close out opponents, when captain Santo tried to break free, David was equal to his shot and cleared it with his finger tips. A home goal was long overdue as half time approached, a short corner found Samuel and he showed he´s not just about speed, he swept the ball under the crossbar and into the net with a powerful strike for a 1-0 lead at the break.

Samuel couldn´t wait to get back on the pitch, two more of his close efforts opened the second half. Brigida were under siege, a series of corners brought their reward when Uday turned the ball into his own net after 51 minutes. There should have been a third goal soon after, Jonay got his whole body behind a shot to keep the score down. Alberto was the first home change when Zeben went off, the visitors managed a brief spell on the attack, it was little more than a breather as Marino stormed back. There are plenty more young players eager to break into the Tenerife south team, when Samuel went off, Brigida might have hoped to catch their breath, that was not an option as Sergio, brother of Nikki, added his sprints to the right flank. Stephane took over from Roy and bolstered the left wing, his first touch was a corner for Charni to head wide.

A clean sheet and a couple of goals would have done most teams, Marino weren´t about to ease off early. A slick move from the right produced a great combination as Nikki fed his brother Sergio to round the defence and supply a perfect set up for Nami to reflect his teams superiority with a final goal just before the whistle. Marino are now two points clear of second spot, and two more ahead of third.

Home is where the heartache is after two poor defeats at the Heliodoro Stadium in four days for CD Tenerife. It highlighted their worrying Santa Cruz form, especially when compared to a rich vein of wins on their travels. Real Oviedo and Extremadura both made a nonsense of their lowly positions to plunder six points and leave Tenerife’s aspirations in tatters.

Embraced and escorted off the pitch by jubilant team mates, Real Oviedo goalie Champagne had the last laugh for again playing the clown on a visit to CD Tenerife. Home fans would also point to a delayed and disputed VAR penalty denial that played a part in the 0-1 Wednesday night defeat to the win less, bottom placed visitors. Even the long established inability to beat “inferior” teams, and failure to establish winning streaks were mentioned but Tenerife were sloppy, negative, shot shy, and so easy for their orange shirted visitors to wind up.

Coming off a wonderful 1-4 win at Lugo, confidence should have been overflowing but Oviedo had the first decent chance. Barcenas drifted in from the right to slice a shot wide of the home goal. Malbasic and Mieroz were getting in each others way up front for Tenerife and Bermejo was not at his scintillating best of previous weeks. Ortuño was looking dangerous and wasn´t too far off target with his free kick. After 24 minutes there was a near copy of the lone goal in the previous home defeat. A well measured ball from Sangall outstripped Carlos Ruiz and found Barcenas who shrugged off Luis Perez and fired the ball under the diving Ortola.

A quick break and Borja Lasso headed a shot at the Oviedo goal, a defender blocked it with his hand, his reaction and the refs instant point to the spot signalled a penalty. VAR had other ideas, and highlighted a Tenerife offside pass way back in the build up, and after the usual drawn out wait, the spot kick was cancelled. The half time feeling in the stands was still that Tenerife had the fire power (9 goals in the last 3 away games) to stick the form book back together. A sniff of a win was all Oviedo needed, out came the diving, delaying, and disrupting tactics. Nahuel came on for Bermejo, and Suso for Mierez to change the home front line. Nahuel gave a much better account of himself after his dismal debut in the last home game. The Argentinian left winger teased the away defence and opened them up but there were no finishers waiting. Suso worked the ball in from the right and passed it across to Malbasic, his neat back heel was a bright idea but couldn´t find a team mate.

Champagne was having problems with gravity, after several theatrical falls he got booked, it didn´t stop him from gathering the ball from the pending header of Aitor Sanz. The keeper followed that with some early pantomime as he fell to the ground in the shadow of his diving defender, maybe he was just showing solidarity. Dani Gomez was a late replacement for Sanz, Champagne snatched a half chance from Malbasic but even the added VAR time couldn´t yield a home goal, for the third time on the trot.

It was an attack minded line up a few nights later against Extremadura. Naranjo was the surprise recall in a more central role, with Mieroz benched, and Nahuel holding his left wing spot as Bermejo slotted in just slightly deeper. Hope hardly had time to get comfortable before an Alex Diaz high ball into the box, Carlos Ruiz, one of three close defenders, missed a tackle on Zarfino who gratefully tucked the ball into the home net. Luis Perez tried for a quick reply, setting up Bermejo for a wayward header, Naranjo was also wasteful, turning an easy nod in, into a glaring miss. Extremadura were basking in their lead and tested Ortola who produced a late punch clear of his goal. It was VAR time at the other end as Munoz squeezed a Naranjo pass in at the post, as the keeper scrabbled in vain to stop it crossing the line. There was just time to bake a cake or write a novel before technology told the ref to give the thumbs up for the equaliser.

There was no time to relax for Tenerife, Willy was bearing down on the home goal, Munoz showed his quality with a snappy interception to clear the danger. Pastrana was denied by another diving save by Ortola, and Rocha exposed Carlos Ruiz and was grateful to Perez for mopping up. Second half nerves were jangling as Ortola spilled a shot just after the restart but a counter attack saw Bermejo clear the bar from a Naranjo pass. Malbasic was getting involved more even if his shot was too weak to trouble the goalie. On the hour Borja Lasso came on for the subdued Luis Milla, it added some urgency and woke up Nahuel whose pass to Mazan forced some stern defending. Dani Gomez was a straight swap for Malbasic when maybe an extra striker would have been a risk worth taking. Naranjo never fails to depress, he wasted good build up work from Munoz with a weak finish, even his recent weeks of obscurity hadn’t sharpened his appetite.

Disaster followed as Extremadura sub Nono dispatched a penalty, after Carlos Ruiz had held him back with 15 minutes left. The final home change brought Mierez on, he did add a threat in the air but Bermejo giving way for him was a costly sacrifice. Tenerife piled on late pressure but their aim hadn’t improved. Naranjo should have ensured himself another lengthy spell in mothballs after another soft attempt on goal. Gomez was lively but couldn’t convert good positioning into the finished product. Just four minutes of injury and VAR time were added, long enough for Borja Lasso to pull Alex Lopez back and convert a booking into a sending off, his second in just over a month. It was just another blow for the 9,876 crowd as three more home points evaporated into the night air. There are goals in this squad, at least on away soil, but the mental block at home is feeding frustration and the team slipped into 16th place.