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Colour, noise, passion and wild excitement in Santa Cruz, it’s expected at Carnaval time, but this year the biggest show of all was in the Heliodoro stadium as CD Tenerife added more momentum to their promotion push, with a 3-0 win over Celta Vigo.

Even the most ardent Tenerife fans couldn’t have expected such a storming start, 2-0 up in 10 minutes, and looking hungrier than Fred Goodwin at bonus time. The 18,740 fans once again did their bit, welcoming the players with thousands of blue and white balloons, flags, banners, and a wall of sound. Carnaval characters danced with the crowd and long before half time, a Mexican wave was rippling around the stadium.

Alfaro started the scoring after just 3 minutes, blasting the ball in the net from outside the area, after Juanlu had led the charge. Tenerife now have the confidence to attack their opponents from the start, knowing that the rearguard is solid,and defenders will push forward to add to the threat. Centre back Luna was up in the thick of the action and perfectly placed to head a second goal just 4 minutes later, with Alfaro turning provider this time.

Tenerife’s dominance was total, they created chance after chance, Kome and Ricardo were in top form in midfield but it was the all round team display that had the crowd purring. Into the second half, and that all important killer goal arrived after 10 minutes, Juanlu again involved, but the little magician, Nino produced one of his trade mark moments of quality to give the keeper no chance.

So CD Tenerife hold firm in the 2nd of the 3 promotion places, with lowly Alicante away next week. At the other end of the table, the Pios (Las Palmas) are slipping into the relegation zone after a 4-2 loss to Hercules – how sweet would it be to see the teams go in opposite directions at the end of the season. Promotion rivals Rayo Vallecano have their own internal problems, this week defender Carlos De la Vega was arrested with 2 former players in a 600 kilo drug bust. But CD Tenerife have their destiny in their own hands, and there has never been a better time to proudly wear the blue and white.

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