It must make a huge difference having the pressure off since being relegated, there’s nothing to play for but for us fans another win, this time 2-1 at Albacete, is that flicker of hope that we can burn brightly again next season. Coach Amaral had 9 players missing for this game, Ricardo, Sicilia, and Luna suspended and Mikel, Igor, Hidalgo, Kome, Melli and Dubarbier all injured, a perfect chance to blood 2 more home grown B team players. Ayoze came into the centre of defence and Moreno anchored the midfield, both responded well.
Shame on 2 of my regular Canarian bars in Los Cristianos that chose to show Barcelona rather than CDT, it made my enjoyment of the game very dissjointed, no such dilemas in Segunda B as away games will seldom be on television. Omar nearly made it a dream start a few minutes in but hit the post, Albacete didn’t have much to offer and with barely 2,000 in the stadium they weren’t going to get much encouragement. Nino has endeared himself to the fans with years of dedication and fire power but typically he is determined to finish this, possibly his last season with us, in a blaze of glory. Pressuring the home defence Nino won a penalty and conveted it with little trouble on the half hour. Of course it couldn’t be that easy, 5 minutes from the break Tato unleashed a fierce shot to level the scores.
Into the second half and Prieto and Bertran had half chances, Nino kept buzzing, and the new faces showed no signs of fading. It was a good move that won the game for Tenerife, Omar having one of his best games created an opening for Alvarez and the season long let down showed why we signed him by cracking in a crisp goal. Time for some more youth, German replaced Iriome just before Nino went close to increasing the lead. Albacete stirred a little and tested Sergio in goal with 5 minutes to go but the keeper covered it well. Fittingly Nino had the last word with another close effort but a 3rd win in 4 games showed that there is something to work on in Segunda B, it’s just a shame that the previous 4 coaches didn’t take a chance with the reserve players earlier in the season.