Fuelling the pre match chat with moans about adjusting to the heat of Tenerife, Espanyol were reeled in by a cool, well organised victory from CD Tenerife. Espanyol are widely expected to quickly regain their Primera statuus but there was plenty of ambition and skill from the home ranks before an ecstatic 18,300 crowd.

The visitors tore into Tenerife from the kick off, asking lots of questions. The home side kept calm and soaked up the oncoming waves. Goalie Soriano was on top form, quick to spot danger and race out to make the ball his own. With just 16 minutes on the clock, the Espanyol goalie got himself in a muddle as the ball sat teasingly between his feet. Enric Gallego pounced on his uncertainty and burried the ball in the back of the net.

Tenerife grew in confidence, Waldo was again full of running and ideas, and Alexandre popped up all over the pitch to pose problems for the visitors. In defence there had been some discussion whether to keep faith with rising young centre back Loic Williams, however Amo got the nod and Espanyols breaks floundered on the back four.

There was a niggling feeling that Espanyol would step up a gear towards the end but Tenerife didn´t let their guard drop. The Tenerife squad is shaping up well, another youth product, Jesus Belza, got a short debut in extra time to continue the range and versatility of the squad. Now in third place, the Santa Cruz team have more to give and it´s a pleasure to watch them mature.