Thousands of fans baying for the buy out of main share holder Garrido o-1 pre game, and a goal down to Sporting after 38 minutes. That was the backdrop to the return of coach Pepe Mel, 20 years on from his first spell in charge of the Santa Cruz side. No one said it was going to be easy but less than a week reinstalled and the boss had been laying the ground work for recovery.

Second half subs earned the draw when the speedy Cantero floated the ball into the danger area after 84 minutes for Diarra to rise and head it past the visiting goalie. It was the second well timed finish for the 26 year old Mali born live wire, doubling his and his teams scoring tally so far. It was the most dramatic of impacts but there were more visions of the new coaching plans. David Rodriguez was brought on for the second half, allowing Mellot to swap back to his left back roll.

Perhaps the biggest statement of intent from Pepe Mel was to name 16 year old Dani Fernandez in the starting line up. The Spain under 17 player is one of several young players pressing for a regular senior slot. The 15,531 crowd were encouraged by the spirited home performance, but the experienced Pepe Mel  knows he has a lot of work to do to push Tenerife up the table, especially with the power struggle still unresolved in the boardroom.