What’s the best theme park in Tenerife? There’s no contest really, if you want a white knuckle ride of excitement with an unpredictable outcome, it has to be the Heliodoro Rodriguez Lopez stadium in Santa Cruz, home to CD Tenerife. On Sunday they served up another thriller that had even the most hardened fans squirming and preying to the football gods before an eventual 3-2 win over Hercules.
On paper this looked like a tight game, Hercules mean defence had only let in 8 goals all season and they were perched in 3rd spot in the Spanish Second Division. Tenerife seldom let form affect their display, and they set out at a fast pace making the visitors look very ordinary. After 25 minutes Alfaro picked up a ball from Oscar Perez (below) and fired Tenerife into a deserved lead. It was largely one way traffic and no surprise when Juanlu scored with a volley after 38 minutes to make it 2-0. It was looking almost too easy.
Time for a few twists and turns, firstly Tote from Hercules was sent off for a foul on Manolo but his team mates hit back well with Abel Aquillar pulling a goal back just before the break as the tenerife defence stood and watched.
As the second half kicked off, the heavens opened and rain poured down on Santa Cruz, Tenerife seemed to lose their way and when Sendoa tied the game after 59 minutes, the 13,247 crowd sensed the worst. Tenerife battled hard but poor finishing and spoiling tactics from the visiting goalie seemed sure to fritter away the remaining time. Hercules lost another player after 86 minutes as Sergio picked up his 2nd yellow card, and CDT surged forward.
Bertran attacked down the right and floated a cross into the box, Alfaro met it perfectly with his head and sent the fans wild with an injury time winner. Players jumped the advertising hoardings and fans vaulted the pitch surround to share their joy, a quick clearance allowed the last few seconds to be played out before another pitchside celebration erupted at the final whistle. Phew, there is certainly never a dull moment with CD Tenerife.