What a way to celebrate the national holiday, Dia de Canarias, a thumping 4-0 away win at Sevilla Athletic for CD Tenerife – promotion is almost in our grasp. I spent the day in Santa Cruz to make the most of the festivities, and watched the game on a 15 metre screen at the Pabellon de Deportes, in the shadow of the CDT ground.

My day started early, heading for Parque Ofra in Ingenieros, one of the stops on the new Line 2 of the Santa Cruz tram system. The official inauguration was at Noon and the trams didn’t start running until after, so I had to use a mix of the Line 1 tram and Titsa bus to get there. the second line from Tincer to La Cuesta cost 55 million euros, and consists of just 6 stops, intersecting the first line at 2 points.

Parque Ofra has a permanent exhibition about recycling and environmental awareness, the wind turbine exhibit and the solar cooking dishes made a nice modern contrast to the tradition and culture of the Canarian dancers and musicians. After the usual politicians had made their speeches, all the dignitaries went up and down the line crammed on the 2 trams, leaving the platform crowded with people waiting to get home. I narrowly avoided being the first person to get splattered by a tram, and eventually got on and made the return trip to central Santa Cruz.

I stopped at the Teatro Guimera, there was a Romeria going on with music, dancing and plenty of bunting. A straw circle had even been marked out for a farner to display 2 of his livestock, though he later moved them into the shade, there’s nothing worse than sweaty bullocks.

On to the football, and time for a few Doradas, the sports hall was pretty busy, probably near 1,500 people in, it was FREE, and all in good voice. I was worried that over confidence against the bottom team could trip us up, that was dispelled in 10 minutes as Ninos blocked shot came to Alfaro who blasted CDT into the lead. just before the half hour mark Nino scored from a Juanlu corner and Daniel Kome, just before Cameroon duty, made it 3-0 a couple of minutes after. Sevilla were poor but Tenerife still had a job to do and a Nino penalty in the second half sealed the game. Three games left and still in second place, leaders Xerez at home next week is a tough one and providing the travel company don’t try to shaft us again, I will be at Girona the week after for what could be the clincher, leaving the Castellon home game as one big party. Sunday Stop Press – Hercules have just drawn this morning, that means CDT need just 4 points from 3 games to go up.

Character is just as important as talent in many ways for a winning team. CD Tenerife showed they have bags of it, bouncing back from last weeks defeat at Hercules, to defeat a stubborn Alaves 3-0 in Santa Cruz. Promotion rivals results all fell into place to leave CDT 2nd with 4 games to go.

Aragonoses was back in goal for Tenerife but it was hard going in the first half as Alaves, desperately fighting to escape relegation, Â played a tight marking game and hung on to the ball. They gave the home fans a scare after 15 minutes when Pablo Sicilia had to make one of his telling clearances to keep them at bay.

Alfaro seized his chance a few minutes later when Kalderon made a defensive error, letting in the CDT striker for his 18th goal of the season. Nino had a clear chance to quickly add to the lead but his usual coolness deserted him. Former Santa Cruz goalkeeper Bernardo kept straying way outside of his area but Alaves hugged the ball to deny any chance of a testing long range chip.

The second half saw Tenerife blossom into their full attacking mode. Richi set up Nino after 58 minutes and this time he was lethal, taking his goal tally to 25. Just 5 minutes later Marc Bertran (pic) killed the game with a well taken strike from outside the area, cue the party on the terraces.

Kome, having a quiet game, was subbed, and waved his seasonal farewell to the 18,302 crowd, he is off on international duty for Cameroon, he will be missed. Marc Bertrans day ended painfully as he was taken off injured, to add to the earlier loss of fellow defender Manolo, hopefully both will be back next week.

This win leaves Xerez top with 75 points, CDT second on 72, Zaragoza on 71, Hercules on 68 and Rayo Vallecano on 65. With the top 3 going straight up, that 4 point gap over 4th place, gives CDT breathing space. Onward to Sevilla away next week.

The big top may have just set up on the Santa Cruz sea front, but the roar of the crowd has never been louder than at CD Tenerife. This noon kick off saw the blanquiazul tame the visitors from Murcia 3-1 with Alfaro the ringmaster.

The previous days results did Tenerife no favours, so it was vital to keep up the pressure to preserve second place. Juanlu was first to excite the home crowd, as his speculative cross hit the woodwork. Murcia looked a decent side but prone to going down too easily, De Lucas was writhing around in the box looking for a penalty as CDT broke and Bertran crossed to Alfaro, who supplied a perfect header to make it 1-0 after 24 minutes.

The second half had barely started when Bertran provided another good run from full back, to supply Juanlu, and he dropped a perfect cross for Alfaro to head the second goal, his 17th of the season. Murcia were reeling and Tenerife followed up with Nino turning provider for Juanlu to make it 3-0 to send the crowd delirious.

A little sloppyness set in and Aquino took advantage to pull a quick goal back, but Tenerife were cruising and in no mood to let the game slip away. Nino had a couple of decent chances, for once his touch deserted him and he had to play understudy to Alfaro.

That cuts the remaining fixtures down to 6, with CDT still comfortable in the 2nd of the 3 promotion slots. The Canal Plus live coverage and noon kick off played a part in keeping the crowd down (put at 18,300 on several news sites after the game but on Monday given as 16,747) those vital missing few thousand (capacity 23,000) would come in very handy to boost the bank account for next season in the Primera, fingers crossed.

They are all big games now but this 1-1 draw at Real Zaragoza could be one of the biggest as it preserves the 4 point gap between CDT and their hosts in the 3rd promotion slot.

It was the worst possible start as Real attacked and Louis Gracia could only parry a shot instead of saving it, leaving Ander to crash the ball into the net after just 2 minutes. No time for recriminations, much better to attack the game, and CDT grew stronger as it went on. Garcia made a great stand up save after 10 minutes and Zaragoza were on the back foot. Alfaro and Kome (below) had Real running scared, every time either of them went down the flanks the home defence looked like they were facing a Mexican with a pig under each arm.

Nino headed wide and Garcia did well to tip over a rare effort from Arizmenda before the equaliser came. It was another piece of Nino brilliance in the box, as he turned and fired in one smooth movement, just before half time.

Into the second half and Zaragoza brought on their Brazilian top scorer, Ewerthon, back from injury, and he looked a handful. On 66 minutes the big forward had the ball in the Tenerife net only to see it ruled out for offside – a very close call. This was Real’s best spell and Cafa curled a shot over after Garcia flapped from a corner.

Tenerife brought on Angel and he also had a goal ruled out, but his looked a pretty clear offside. The home team were desperate for the points and launched a late assault, both Bertran and Luna made superb clearing tackles in the dying minutes to protect a vital draw.

Next weekend Murcia are the visitors to Santa Cruz, and once again Canal Plus have picked the match for live showing at Noon on Sunday. The Armada Sur will be there as always, even if it means an early start – I must remember to change out of my Thomas the Tank Engine PJ’s.

Las Palmas only drew, 1-1, at home to Huesca and remain in danger.Well done to CDT’s B team for winning the Copa Heliodoro on Thurday on penalties after a 0-0 draw with Las Zocas. They are also clear top in the Tercera division so may end up playing a relegated Las Palmas next season in Segunda B – my how we will laugh at that one.

I’ve got to that age where I actually want socks and pants for a birthday present, but this year all I desperately wanted was a win for CD Tenerife over the Pios of Las Palmas – and CDT delivered with a 2-0 victory.

The day started in tasty fashion with a visit to the Canarian Food Fair at the Los Cristianos cultural centre, fantastic cakes, cheeses and wines for sale with lots of FREE samples. Just 2 thoughts hogged my mind, it was a Canarian fair rather than just Tenerife, so I had to suppress any desire to start singing anti Las Palmas football songs near the Gran Canarian stalls, and I kept getting this image of Little Britain – I was looking for 2 old ladies tasting the lesbian jam.

Anyway,onto football and many Doradas, the Pios arrived early and smashed up a bar in Santa Cruz and threw a few flares around the main shopping area – why can’t they be angels like our fans? The pre game tifo (banners and tick a tape) was magnificent, even the 1,000 Pio fans seemed subdued after that.

The game looked like being a tense no risks derby, Tenerife looked well below par in the first half and visiting hot shot MarcosMarquez had the better chances. Coach Oltra must have thrown a few coffee cups around the dressing room, because Tenerife emerged after the break, with new urgency. Just 6 minutes into the second half, Juanlu laid on the perfect pass to Richi who duly planted the ball in the Pios net to make it 1-0.

The scenes of celebration were incredible, hope The Sun weren’t watching, they would have put it down as a volcanic eruption. One goal is never enough, especially in a derby game, but Nino made it 2-0 after 79 minutes to show that he is the real Canarian hot shot.

Needless to say, Dorada sales after the game enjoyed a healthy boost, the police were a pain as always, the y moved the 2 Armada Sur coaches on from outside our bar, then we had to wait for all the Pio fans to be marched past with their police escort-a potential flashpoint- before we could finally board and head back south.

What a day, the upshot of it all is CD Tenerife are on top of the Second Division, at least for one night, and Las Palmas are still hovering over the relegation trap door.

Like an expectant father I have been pacing and waiting, but this afternoon the new Armada Sur fanzine “You Should See Us When We Draw” popped out of the printers, kicking and screaming into the world.

Weighing in at 16 pages, with a full colour front and back cover, it can be adopted (not for you Madonna) for just 2 euros per issue. To those not familiar with football fanzines, the idea is it’s produced by and for fans, independently of the club, and will take an irreverant, and often downright rude, look at CD Tenerife, football and anything vaguely related.

The first issue contains a look at the main peñas (fan clubs) around the Heliodoro stadium in Santa Cruz, a recent away weekend at Rayo Vallecano, and a few amusing (we desperately hope) items about football in Slovakia, early experiences of football in Tenerife, and our regular letters page, Dear Rolf.

This issue has been born just in time for the derby game at home to the Pios on Saturday, kick off 5.30pm, all 23,000 tickets sold in 2 hours. It’s a fairly modest begining, but with input from other fans, we hope to grow and improve. The fanzine will be on sale on the 2 Armada Sur coaches going up to the Pio game, or contact me and I will try to get one to you.

Zeus and Hades are going to find themselves well down the pecking order, CD Tenerife are the real Gods to the people of Tenerife. Tonights 2-1 win at Real Sociedad, from 1-0 down, was an epic display, next weeks filming of Clash Of The Titans here on the island suddenly looks like a Pearl and Dean trailer.

It was a frantic opening by both sides, Alfaro and Juanlu fired over and wide of the home goal, and Aranburu fired a shot just wide of the Tenerife net. Things settled down and Tenerife had the better of play, Luna made some telling clearances in defence while at the other end Nino (below) flashed a shot across the Real goal mouth that eluded everyone and Kome set up Bertran who saw his shot blocked by a desperate defence.

The clearest chance fell to Aranburu on 35 minutes when the ball rolled in front of him with the Tenerife goal at his mercy, but he fluffed it. They were less forgiving 5 minutes after the break when a cross eluded the CDT defence and Abreu rose above Martinez to head Sociedad ahead.

Tenerife made an instant reply, Kome headed for goal but was brought down in the box with a crude lunge and Nino was as cool as a cucumber (or any other vegetable that you might like to name) to score from the penalty spot. Tenerife could sense victory now and pushed home their advantage, a slack defensive back header was snapped up by Nino who ran on to beat the keeper and send the travelling CDT fans higher than Mounts Teide or Olympus.

It was all over then, Tenerife looked strong and confident, sub Mikel Alonso cooly shielded the ball back to Luis Garcia to protect him from danger, and the goalie then made a great 2 touch save to ensure the points.

The countdown is on to the derby, confirmed as Saturday April 25 at 5.30 pm in Santa Cruz. The tickets are all sold out and the Pios must be dreading their trip from Las Palmas, with a CDT win making it a double this season.

As for tonight, do I stay in and watch strange hairy women singing on tv, or go out for a few celebratory Doradas ? Wow that’s a toughie!

CD Tenerife are not a great team, they are a great squad. They proved that yesterday, beating Levante 5-1 at home, with Bertran and Martinez suspended they drafted in Cendros and Culebras in the full back positions, they did a great job and unsung midfield hero Richi led the charge with 2 well taken goals.

Tenerife took a while to hit their stride and Levante gave them a few problems, thankfully Luis Garcia was on hand to make some fine saves. Just after the half hour Tenerife made the big breakthrough, Juanlu passed the ball to Richi in front of goal and he fired it into the net. It was a short lived lead, Levante launched an attack and Garcia charged out of his area and failed to get the ball, leaving Del Moral a free header to level the scores.

That seemed to sting Tenerife into life, Cendros set up Nino but the Levante defence squeezed him out, but they were unable to prevent Richi latching on to a Kome pass to beat the keeper, restoring the lead. The killer blow came just before the first half ended, Alfaro fired a rocket into the net from 25 yards, leaving the keeper stranded.

Tenerife went into the second half full of confidence and eager for more goals. They didn’t have to wait long, Alfaro turned provider with a pass that was like an invitation to Nino to make it 4-1. Levantes resisitance melted away and it was fitting that Tenerife had the last word with Ayoze creating an opening for Alfaro to take his tally to 15 for the season.

The only down side of the day was the crowd of 15,790 , CDT are playing great football and hammering on the door of the Primera. I know it was live on Canal Plus and it was Easter Sunday, but what more does it take to get people to support the pride of the island. The Armada Sur were there in force (2 coachloads) but it would be nice to see 23.000 full houses every week from here on in.

As many still slumbered in their beds, or shovelled down belly buster breakfasts around the cafes and bars of Tenerife, future football stars were gathering at Tenerife Top Training in La Caleta for the week long, IFA Kastler Football Academy.

With tennis and padel tournaments also going on, there was plenty for me to focus on for the new T3 Blog site and a chance to meet some ex football players passing on skills to kids between 5 and 17.

Thomas Kastler used to play in the German Third Division, and Samantha Britton (above) is a former Arsenal and England player, who now works at the Britannia school here in Tenerife. I was surprised to find that the young players included a red hot 9 year old prospect from Finland and a 5 year old hopeful from the Czech Republic, hands off Sir Alex. The Academy have scouting links to several big European teams, Eric the Finnish whizz is off to Barcelona soon for a weeks trial.

Samantha was clearly enjoying herself and the young players were responding well, the 35 plus players each day have been all boys, even though the academy was open to all. The former Arsenal star is keen to help develop the standard of the many female teams in Tenerife.

I managed a few words with Bernd Kabau, one of the T3 tennis coaches, and admired the serving technique of his female pupil. Tenerife Top Training has the only 2 clay courts in Tenerife. Thankfully noone asked me to pick up a racquet to show my lack of skills, but I am slightly tempted to try Padel, very popular here, a mix between squash and tennis – although it might take a bit more than some Robinsons Barley Water to revive me after a game.

A great away point for CD Tenerife, especially a they played the last 18 minutes a man down after Bertran was sent off for a second yellow card. The 600 plus CDT faithfull that travelled to Rayo Vallecano can enjoy a few beers in Madrid knowing that Rayo will view it as 2 points dropped as they snap at the heels of the blanquiazul.

Tenerife looked the better and more positive team, with Kome in sparkling form in midfield and Luis Garcia flawless in goal. Cobeno in the home goal also looked unbeatable, though Tenerife tested him thoroughly. Kome unleashed 2 powerful early long range strikes, bith over the bar and in between Garcia made 2 fine saves, particularly when smothering the ball as Jofre raced through alone.

Pachon was the main threat for Rayo, controlling the ball with his chest before forcing Garcia to tip over, and then heading wide just before the half hour mark. Alfaro had a good chance but the home keeper dived to save low at the post, and Juanlu headed over the bar. Nino lost a one on one with the Rayo keepr, who pounced on the ball, and Kome caused panic in the home defence, floating a cross in that a defender struggled to head away.

The second half opened with Tenerife still on top, Martinez heading wide and Nino beating 2 defenders only to be stopped by the keeper. Coach Oltra was looking for the win and brought on forward Angel for midfielder Juanlu after 64 minutes but he had to change his plans when Bertran was unlucky to get a second booking, forcing him out of the game. It was probably a wise move to bring on Clavero as defensive cover, even if it meant losing the creative influence of Kome. Rayo briefly rallied, Albiol made a good break but found Garcia ready to confound him. Former Tenerife coach Pepe Mel couldn’t seem to fire his current side up to exploit their man advantage, Pachon showed more of his skill controlling the ball before going for goal, but Garcia showed great determination to claw the ball off the line and push it wide. At the final whistle, it was clear to see which set of fans were happier, as Tenerife supporters cheered their heroes off. Other results on Sunday took Xerez top on 57 points, and left CDT and Hercules tied on 56, followed by Zaragoza on 43 and Rayo on 53.

Next Sunday (April 12) is the first of 2 Noon kick offs at home due to Canal Plus coverage. The Levante game will be followed 2 weeks later (April 26) by the derby return against the Pios from Las Palmas (to be confirmed), you would be crazy to miss either.