With nothing to play for the pressure was off for CD Tenerife, time to emerge from the shadow of six straight 1-0 defeats. Time to repay the fans for their unstinting loyalty while the club became a laughing stock following a mid season of quality and promise. What did we get though, a half hearted 0-3 surrender at Sporting Gijon, the players looked like they had just emerged from Tuesdays Mahou brewery visit. Key players like Edgar and Ricardo were suspended and Ayoze didn’t even bother to travel this week as his move to Newcastle has been rubber stamped.
The fringe players should have grabbed their chance to impress but in the first minute goalie Diego Divas dropped a high ball under pressure and was lucky to get a second chance. Then the normally reliable Carlos Ruiz was slow and timid to let Lekic waltz round him and fire a second minute touch in to make it 1-0. When the second goal went in after 15 minutes, this time from Carmona, I suppose it was a change from single goal deficits but it still depressed me.
Tenerife managed a mini revival, a Loro free kick just cleared the bar, and Aridane spurned the best chance when he headed the ball down and wide in front of goal. Just after the half hour Ruiz confirmed his worst display for the team as he gave up the ball to Carmona who set up Scepovic to make it 3-0. We were watching amid several TVs in The Phoenix in Los Abrigos and by this point Britain’s Got Talent was actually starting to look appealing.
Half time swaps of Alberto for Ruiz, and Ayoze Diaz for Camara made little difference, Sporting were toying with us, a cheeky long shot went oh so close and if Sporting hadn’t relaxed the total would have risen. Borja came on for Cristo after 63 minutes, surely his farewell run, Aridane proved too slow to convert a good pass into a shot, and the juggling dog on the other TV was showing more control. The final whistle put us out of our misery, seven games without a win, and 641 minutes without a goal, whichever way you slice it, that is a dismal epitaph to the season.