It wasn’t a classic, but 0-0 away at Alaves, you gotta be pleased with that. There was always a chance of red faces with last seasons players Bernardo, Toni Moral and Raul Sanchez lining up for Alaves, but the only red was Tenerife’s third choice shirts.

Raul had a good chance after 8 minutes, but thought he was back in Tenerife colours and missed, heading over. A few minutes later, a Nino header was saved by Bernardo, the only decent chance of the half for Tenerife. Casar headed wide and Raul headed another over late on to end the first half.

The Tenerife defence looked tight, Juan Pablo’s handling was clean and confident and Santos was the pick of the bunch going forward. Santos had a couple of chances and Nino put a free kick wide and was harshly booked for diving, after a half hearted penalty call.

Arruabarrena came on 16 minutes from the end but really needs a full game to sharpen him up, even if it is with the B team. The only worry was in time added on when Juanma made a well timed clearing tackle and was carried off holding his leg, hopefully it isn’t serious.

Bad news from Las Palmas where the Pio’s won 1-0 against Gimnastic. Cordoba at home next weekend, once the TV people decide what day. If you want to go, contact the Armada Sur for a great day out.

No, it’s not my latest cheesey chat up line, but a genuine opportunity. Next Thursday (Oct 4) there are casting tests for L’Oreal in San Telmo, Los Cristianos.

To have a chance, you need to be between 15 and 30 years old, from 1.65 metres high to 1.75, and have long hair. Also you should be willing to have your locks cut and styled by a top Italian stylist.

The auditions are being run by Sur Film production company, who have a permanent base in San Telmo, have English speakers, and are frequently recruiting for adverts, photo shoots and even movies.

You have from 10am until 8pm to pop in. San Telmo is the block facing Las Vistas beach, take the road behind it and about half way between the 2 sets of steps to the beach you will find some small stairs down to a terrace where the casting will take place. There will be notices to guide you on the day or you can phone 822106914 (yes it is an 8).

Good luck, you might as well at least try….Because Your Worth It.

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How much beer have you drunk on the beach this week? Did you snooze and wake up to see a Mini skimming across the sea? Don’t worry you were’nt drunk – well not that drunk. The specially adapted model of the Mini popped in to Playa de las Americas this week for a few days promotional work and will move on to Las Terresitas beach, just beyond Santa Cruz, for the weekend.

BMW through their Spanish division, have built a few of the Sea Minis to appear around Spain and promote their new models, in particular the 2008 Mini Clubman. They can drive over the sand and straight into the waves. I just hope that Garfield in the back window has been given a life jacket.

Now it’s official, Santa Cruz council have finally admitted that Elton John will not perform in Tenerife this year. They say that his people wouldn’t agree to the venue, the dock side, but the concert will go ahead sometime next year at the Recinto Ferial, just across from the auditorium.

It’s no good blaming Elton’s people, why did deputy mayor, Angel Llanos pose with Javier Rolo of promotors Rolo Productions, at a press conference on August 30th, as they signed the concert agreement. If the venue hadn’t been nailed down, how could they announce that Elton was coming. Ever since then the official Elton John website has carried no confirmation of the concert and once contacted, they flatly denied there would be a concert. At the same time the council kept insisting it would go ahead.

Still, Elton will be here next year, the council have an “agreement” Oh yes, is that like the agreement I have that I can sleep with Girls Aloud? The Recinto Ferial only holds 15,000 people, half of the dockside figure, so tickets would have to be very expensive to guarantee a decent return.

Remember, this is the council that hired an expensive choreographer for Carnival this year, only to see his show booed off and condemmed as the worst ever, and since then they have been locked in legal battles over not paying his entire fee. This is the same Angel Llanos, being denounced for his recent expensive jolly to New York to see a musical.

Sadly the council have also cancelled the planned Piss Up in a Brewery , apparently due to organisational problems.

There’s bikes, and then there’s BIG bikes, and on Tenerife you can have both. Last Sunday, the annual bicycle fiesta took place in Santa Cruz, 8,000 cyclists gathered in Avenida Tres de Mayo and rode along the coast to San Andres and back again. Lots of fun and smiling faces all round, apart from anyone who leapt on their bike only to find the saddle was missing.

This Saturday, Sep 29, there’s a big motorbike rally down in the south organised by two of Spains biggest biker groups, Lobos del Asphalto and Moto Las Guadanas. They meet up at 10am at Cheers bar in Aldea Blanco for breakfast and then roar off to Los Menores and Taucho and set up camp. It’s a ticket only event and they will be sold out by now, but look out for the Wild Ones streaming down the road, and give them a wave, they’re a friendly bunch.

It’s so hot you could fry an egg on the pavement! We have all heard that comment but a new exhibition outside the Los Cristianos cultural centre, takes that a stage further.

It’s a look at solar energy and in particular, using it to cook. A basic box design covered in silver foil, sits there in the sun and the thermometer inside shows 130 degrees centigrade, capable of cooking anything. The Canary Islands come third in a table of kw hours that can be solar generated per square metre, just behind Saudi Arabia and the Sahara desert.

If this turns your mind to renewable energy, you might fancy a trip to I:T:E:R the renewable energy centre on the Granadilla industrial estate. You will have noticed the huge wind turbines, but at the centre, they have much more on display and it’s free to look round. The centre is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10an to 6pm, it’s easier to drive there but a 111 Santa Cruz bus (dont get the 110-it doesnt stop) will drop you just past the shark fin bridge on the TF1 motorway, then it’s a near hours walk down to the coast.

Am I a curse? I couldn’t get to the Tenerife home game tonight and they won 2-1 against Salamanca.

Thanks to the excellent CDT club website I was able to get the details soon after the game and will pass them on here in the hope that im not the only one who thinks the sun shines out of their dressing room.

A bad start with the visitors taking the lead after just 12 minutes from a Jurado header. An agonising first half as Juan Pablo denied Acuna after 40 minutes to keep Tenerife in touch. Then just before half time, the mini marksman, Nino, added to his growing tally with the equaliser to restore hope.

Juan Pablo again came to the rescue after 64 minutes with another strong save but still no break through at the other end. Aruabarrena came on after 73 minutes to add his height up front and it paid off 3 minutes from time as he fired in the winner. A much needed win and with the crowd holding well at 12,000, heads are high again.

And joy of joys, Las Palmas went down again, this time 2-0 at Celta Vigo.

You may have noticed from Los Cristianos harbour, that I have a new hobby, making models and have just finished 2 very impressive looking full size ships.

The grey metallic looking one is the Academik Sergey Vavilov, an Oceanography vessel, built in Finland in 1988 for Russia. It has charted the waters of the Arctic and Antartic and is taking a short break on it’s way to the next survey.

The four mast tall ship is the Kruzenshtern, built in Germany in 1926 and repatriated to Russia after World War Two. It is the second biggest of it’s kind in the World, 114 metres long with a tallest mast of 51.3 metres and a top speed of 17 knots. Don’t be fooled by the canon hatches down each side, they are just for show. I had some trouble painting the tricky corners on this one and if you look carefully you will see that I ran out of parts and used a Spitfire propeller for one of the cross masts, but a decent effort, if I say so myself, although it cost me a fortune in little tins of Humbrol paint.

The Kruzenshtern is filming and will be around Los Cristianos until October 19.

Where do they get these referees from, another bungling official made it a terrible night for CD Tenerife as they lost 1-0 at home to Hercules, with a dodgy penalty and two stright reds leaving them with 9 players.

However the fury at referee Gomez, should not be allowed to hide the fact that this was another poor display by Tenerife. Hercules looked the better team throughout, well organised and tight in defence while Tenerife had few ideas, couldn’t win the ball and couldn’t pass to a team mate.

Juan Pablo looked more confident in goal this week and dealt comfortably with the few direct efforts Hercules had on goal. Nino again looked isolated up front and it was a frustrating first half.

It all happened in the second half, after 49 minutes Ricardo won the ball in the penalty box and was coming away with it when the ref blew, late, and awarded a penalty and sent Ricardo off. Farinos scored from the spot as a feeling of inevitability settled on the Tenerife players and crowd.

Coach Oltra tried to shake things up and gave Arruabarrena his debut after 60 minutes, and the big forward was able to give Nino some support at last. Iriome came on 10 minutes later and showed some of his form of last season, with his speed on the right.

After 75 minutes, the ref sent Bertran packing for a foul on Tote, he was the last defender and went to join Ricardo in the showers. Arruabarrena had Tenerife’s only decent chance of the game in the final minute but headed over.

Another great crowd, 11,705, but the coach has a lot of work to do, the team need to brush up on some of the basics if they are to make any impact this season.

The only bright spot of the weekend was Las Palmas losing 3-2 at home to Real Sociedad on Saturday-well done to Chris Coleman’s team.Â

Malaga at home, that’s the the opposition for CD Tenerife in the next round of the Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup) on Wednesday October 10 at 9pm.

Lots more league action before then, starting with Hercules at home in Santa Cruz, on Sunday September 16 at 6pm, and a chance to show that last weekends 4-1 away defeat at Granada was just a bad day at the office. Home form will be the key to a genuine promotion push and CDT have already shown they have some great play makers this season but consistency and character will also be vital. The Armada Sur will as always be there to cheer the team on, contact them for travel details.

If you bump into coach Oltra, pat him on the back and give him a cigar, his wife has just delivered a second son Miguel, lets make it a double celebration.