We should have known better, leading 2-0 at home to lowly Llagostera after 16 minutes the words landslide and goal feast were perched on our lips but CD Tenerife still made us endure injury time jitters before winning 3-1.

The visitors are a beacon in the money hungry fog of modern football, from a town of 8,000 people they have risen through six divisions in 10 seasons but sat in the penultimate position with just one away point, this was seen as a chance for CDT to break from four games without a win. Choco Lozano was revealed to be nursing a muscle injury since joining from Honduras pre season and he was left on the bench whilst Nano grabbed his chance with an explosive start. Just two minutes after kick off the young local striker pounced on a ball from Moutinho to make it 1-0. Returning forward Juanjo headed wide soon after but losing the ball in a further raid unleashed Nano for a speedy break and deadly finish to stretch the lead.

Feeling like travelers in a strange land we hoped for more but the killer instinct was missing and Llagostera clawed their way back into contention. Querol got into a good position and slipped the ball to Imaz and suddenly it was a little rockier at 2-1. The hat trick eluded Nano, two defenders squeezed him out before he could fire and the resulting corner came to nothing. Cristian Garcia nearly gifted an own goal as his clearance went painfully close to the post and German, preferred to Jorge again, picked up a booking to gain entry to the popular one game suspension club.

Juanjo tested Dani between the sticks and pantomime villain Natalio lived up to his billing with a cynical dive after Carlos Ruiz had robbed him of the ball. Garcia was replaced at half time by Raul Camara and Tenerife made a bright start, Nano got into some space but found no support. Suso skinned Herrero only to shave his shot wide and twice Nano got borderline call backs for offside. Juanjo went off to generous applause and was replaced by Fofo, a striker rumoured to be a possible Tenerife target in the January window. Ricardo should have at least tested the away goalie but was let down by his poor touch.

Attacking midfielder Javi Lara took over from Ricardo and showed plenty of promise on the left, he soon formed an productive understanding with Moutinho. The first corner from Javi was scrambled away and another inswinger was cleared out to Moutinho whose long shot wasn’t far off target. There was a bit of head scratching when coach Pep Marti replaced Nano with Choco Lozano, especially as it was with a corner pending.

Plucky Llagostera had their own chances, Benja chipped over the bar and an anxious finish loomed for the 7,286 crowd. Choco missed a sitter and as the game moved into injury time Fofo thought he had scored, Dani smothered his shot as the Llagostera players screamed that the ball was over, it was a real close call, it’s a good job our groundsman marked out an extra chunky white line. Sighs of relief were still hanging in the air as the ball broke to Suso, the keeper raced out and Suso timed it perfectly to bury the ball and ensure the victory.

Back in the age of Stickle Bricks and jigsaws, Lego was king, kids could knock up an impressive house complete with a vaulted roof before you could say planning permission. My efforts would have been a source of amusement to the little pig that thought straw was a sturdy basis for a construction project. The First Lego League, now an annual fixture in Arona makes me feel like a dinosaur but the enthusiasm, imagination, and skill of the budding builders augers well for the future of the Canary Islands.

The event is basically a huge science project, this year 43 teams from across the Canary Islands converged on Los Cristianos cultural centre to battle against each other in an ecological robot wars. Lego these days is mobile, it comes with engines and wheels, inside the Auditorio Infanta Leonor, the stage held a series of big table arenas with different tasks, like Trash Trek, assigned for each team. It all looked rather complicated to an old brain like mine but judges armed with clipboards were marking the teams efforts. There were some very young contestants, if they could hold a small spanner they were deemed ready.

Outside the cultural centre there were marquees for related interest games and displays. Despite being the day after heavy rain, snow, and hail, the usual hot Tenerife weather was back with the sun belting it out in a clear blue sky. I was able to get a clear look at the sun displayed on a paper surface, and then through a special telescope that filtered out the harmful rays. In both cases I could see a prominent sun spot and was suitably impressed. This was just one way that young minds were being opened up to the wonders of science, an impressive list of colleges and business sponsors showed how important the Lego League has become. When I was at school were lucky if we were let loose on a bunsen burner or a hair raising moment on a mini Van der Graph generator. Full marks to Arona Ayuntamiento (council) for putting itself at the centre of the learning universe.