Smelling of fish, fire and sweat I was surprised that anyone would want to give me a hug but as Nino completed his hat trick in CD Tenerife’s 3-2 home win over Getafe, everyone was leaping on each other and dancing with joy. Malaga only drew 0-0 at home to Valladolid so the gap to safety is now just one point.

Lured up to Santa Cruz early by the pre match street party outside the stadium, I got the 111 Titsa bus and switched to the tram at Santa Cruz bus station. La Paz is the perfect stop for the stadium, a quick coffee and a stroll over the Barranco Santos bridge and I was in Calle Mutine below the Tribuna stand for noon. The giant paella was simmering nicely and the Dorada was going down well, a couple of nice young ladies were handing out flags and a decent crowd was building. The carnaval band didn’t appear but once the paella was served the queue swelled dramatically. By the time the CD Tenerife team coach arived at 2.15 there were nearly 1,000 fans in full voice with banners and drums in full support.

The match started with Getafe hungry to nail a European spot, they looked good with speedy wingers and Leon had already gone close by the time he hit their opener after 10 minutes. Tenerife got their bearings and started to take over the game, it was another scorching sunny day, a stark contrast to the freezing terraces when we went over to Getafe. The line up that won in Sporting was showing confidence and on the half hour, Nino levelled with a well met header from a telling Roman cross. It was all Tenerife now and Alfaro missed a couple of decent chances to snatch the lead.

Into the second half and Tenerife piled on the pressure, Roman saw his shot blocked by Torres and goalie Codina chased Nino wide of the goal and was grateful to team mate Mane for clearing the ball. The goal had to come and Bertran supplied the pass that let Nino in for a deserved lead. With the other scores going our way there was a bouyant mood in the crowd but Getafe were determined and equalised with a Casquero header. Now it was about character as well as ability, and CDT had plenty of both, Alfaro timed his pass perfectly to beat the offside trap and Nino was sharp to slip the ball past the keeper to round off a great hat trick.

Now all thoughts are on Atletico Madrid away next Sunday, many of us have booked flights and at the moment Madrid airport is open. If the planes are grounded we have a contingency plan that involves borrowing the Kon Tiki raft from the Pyramids of Guimar and finishing our journey on Space Hoppers.