Womens football came of age in El Medano as Granadilla Tenerife Sur stormed to a 3-0 win over Levante Las Planas in the first leg of their promotion semifinal. The ultimate prize is a place in Spain’s Primera and GTS showed they have the hunger, the skill, and the passion to make it.
The home changing room was bouncing pre game as the ladies sang their inspirational songs and they clattered down the terrace steps to be welcomed by an 1,800 crowd. Granadilla attacked from the start with Maria Jose Perez (lime boots) showing attacking flair that would have made cousin Ayoze proud. Carla Gomez, one of three late reinforcements from Catalan side San Gabriel, gave good support and when Levante managed a break away goalie Pili was sharp with a clean catch of a high ball.
Silvia went close with a rasping drive for the home side and Maria Jose deserved better from a great turn with her back to goal before unleashing a testing shot. The opening goal came after 30 minutes from a raid down the left by Maria Jose who slipped a perfect cross to Reichel to beat the keeper. The crowd around the artificial pitch erupted, the extra few hundred perched on walls overlooking the ground joined in, and even the passengers on the constant flow of low flying airplanes must have felt some extra turbulence.
On the stroke of half time there was a scare with Levante bearing down on goal but Pili punched clear to avert the danger. Reichel opened the second half with a decent attempt on goal and Marilen gave way to sub Ana who added some extra power in attack. Continued pressure paid off for Granadilla after 63 minutes as Ana scored a well worked individual goal. The visitors were visibly shaken and started to wilt, they were clearly struggling with the evening heat and had few answers to a determined home team. Reichel curled in a teasing shot that just cleared the Levante bar but with the away leg in Valencia to come GTS needed another goal.
It was fitting that the games outstanding player Maria Jose Perez grabbed what could prove to be the decisive goal in the tie. As another wave of pressure pinned back Levante Maria Jose left the defence in tatters to bury the ball in the net. The celebration of the home players showed how much that three goal margin meant to them. It’s not all over yet, the return fixture in a weeks time needs to be treated with caution if Granadilla Tenerife Sur are to go one stage further than last year. It was a job well done and with confidence on their side few would bet against GTS making it through to a glorious two legged final.