Baby steps maybe, but an impressive 1-0 home win over Mirandes, logged up 10 points from a difficult season and had eyes starting to look upward. A loss could have dragged the home side into a clutch of basement teams, but the result was seldom in doubt. Gallego, under fire of late, showed his best side with a strong header from a Diarra cross to set the tone. Tenerife looked comfortable, Luismi Loro and Diarra are two of this seasons stars and were again at their creative best.
The lone goal of the game came after 29 minutes. Luismi put in one of his trademark crosses to Diarra at the far post, and the sharp forward showed an agile mind, heading down the ball into the path of Ruben for a tap in. It was greeted with joy by the just under 15,000 fan crowd, in a game that kicked off after tributes and condolences for the victims of the valencia floods. The ref ended the first half in a muddle as his electronic equipment made him look like Robocop on a bad day, adding a 8 minute delay before the break.
Mirandes were all huff and no puff and were well monitored by a tight home defence led as always by the inspirational Mellot. Salvi was solid between the sticks, another player who has settled well under the coach. Never spurning a chance to encourage fringe players, Pepe gave late run outs to Maikel Mesa and Yanis, and they showed snatches of more productive times to come.
The good work of the coach hasn´t gone unoticed and an extra year has now been added to his contract. There is certainly plenty to build on but for now, scoring goals and keeping clean sheets will do nicely to fuel a revival.