It was a strange but magnificent day for Ethyan Gonzalez. The 21 year old striker wasn´t able to make the short hop to Lanzarote to see his CD Tenerife B team mates clinch their promotion, as he was wanted for first team duty. Roll on 81 minutes into the seniors home tie with Racing Ferol, and the striker was summoned from the bench by coach Garitano (in the stand serving a touchline ban). As the game ticked down to a scoreless draw, Ethyan pounced on the ball and tied the Racing defence in knots before slipping the ball to Teto to score. What a symbolic act, Teto himself is another youth product. And as the game drifted into injury time, Bodiger hit his first goal in Tenerife colours. No it wasn´t a dream, just a well crafted victory for the 13,000 crowd. Ethyan was swamped by his B team squad at the final whistle as they received the ovation of the crowd.
Racing were poor for a side trying to secure a promotion play of spot, and it was Tenerife that had a spring in their step. Loic Williams, another home grown talent, was comfortable in defence and was always keen to overlap to help with raids on the visitors goal. Home goalie Soriano had little to do, most of the action was at the other end of the pitch, the upbeat mood of the stadium encouraged a more flowing performance but Racing seemed content to sit deep and soak up any pressure.
It would be nice if Tenerife could complete their remaining four games with positive results and hint at what could have been. In the summer there will be big decisions to take for the club, especially on the position of the coach. At least the supporters can dream of several B team players joining the seniors, and a realistic run at promotion next term.
Flowing play, confidence on the ball, and always full of options, CD Tenerife B team underlined their credentials with a 3-0 home win over Tamaraceite at the Geneto training complex near Tenerife North airport. Celebrations for promotion to Spain´s 4th tier will have to wait a few more days as rival sides also won on May Day morning.
It´s been a fabulous season for the largely under 23 squad, many have risen through the age levels together and there is an understanding bordering on telepathy in the squad. Under coach Mazinho and captain Felix Alonso they have only lost two matches all term, even when losing players to taste first team action. Ethyan is the creme of the crop. The 21 year made a meteoric rise through the youth system, with goals galore but a couple of annoying injuries stalled his progress.
Tamaraceite from neighbouring island, Gran Canaria, rode their luck a little early on before Ethyan burst into the box after the half hour and beat the goalie. Cacho on the left was causing problems and curled a shot just over the bar. Into the second half, the away goalie took a knock and looked uncertain when coming to claim the ball, it was like a guilt edged invitacion to Ethyan. Spotting an opening the marksman took his seasons tally to 14 goals.
Tenerife made several changes to give other players a chance to shine. Dawda, another player to have tasted a few minutes with the seniors, responded quickly to lash in a half volley for a 3-0 lead. The depth and quality of the home squad ensured that their visitors were not allowed any chances to spoil the clean sheet. Celebrations were on ice until the following Sunday at Union Sur Yaiza (Lanzarote). The biggest legacy of this season will hopefully be an increased prescence of locally developed talent to propel the club forward.