And then there were Four! – Segunda B Play-Offs

By Chris Clements
Updated: 11 June, 2012

EFE

So we have our final four. Ponferradina, Cádiz, Lugo & Tenerife have reached the Segunda B play-off finals where the winners from the two ties will join Real Madrid Castilla & Mirandés in La Segunda.

Ponferradina eased into the finals at the expense Lucena, but the 3-0 scoreline makes their path appear a little easier than it was in reality. Yuri gave the home side the lead on 10 minutes thanks to a neat turn and sharp shot from the edge of the penalty area. Acorán doubled Ponferradina’s lead on 53 minutes with a cross shot following a swift break from halfway.

Lucena pushed for a goal that would take the tie into extra-time, but Quintana in the Ponferradina goal produce two excellent saves to keep the home side ahead. With the game in the 5th minute of added time, and Lucena camped in Ponferradina’s penalty area, the home side broke away and Didac ran in the third goal to seal the win and break Lucena’s hearts.

Cádiz and Albacete could not be separated after 210 minutes of stalemate. The tie was therefore settled on penalties with Cádiz edging through by four kicks to three. Albacete missed their first and third penalties after Nunez shot wide and Victor Curto hit the post, whilst Murillo missed Cádiz’s second spot kick. This left Yuste with the responsibility of winning the tie for the Andaluzs, and he made no mistake with a confident shot into the top left hand corner of the goal.

Lugo took a 3-1 lead into their second leg away to Atlético Baleares, but have their goalkeeper Diego Rivas to thank for a goalless draw in Palma de Mallorca. Rivas produced a string of saves to frustrate Atlético and a crowd of over 12,000 locals that had gathered at the Estadio Balear. Lugo offered little in the way of offense, having done all their attacking damage in the first hour of the first leg. Lugo now progress to the final, having conceded just one goal in over 6 hours of play-off football.

Tenerife made hard work of their second leg tie with Real Balompédica Linense. Taking a 1-0 lead into the tie, Tenerife increased their advantage in the second minute thanks to Kike’s close range finish. David Hernandez scored for Linense on 16 minutes, before Victor Bravo restored the islanders two goal advantage on 39 minutes. Hernandez got his and Linense’s second of the match with a glancing header just before half-time.

The visitors lost Muñoz for a second bookable offence on 63 minutes, but pushed Tenerife hard, knowing that another goal would take them through on the away goals rule. Linense were denied a penalty with two minutes to go after Copi appeared to have been pushed, but Tenerife immediately broke forward and sealed the tie when Kike rounded the keeper to score from a tight angle. Both Hernandez & Copi received straight red cards before the game could restart for vehemently disputing the non-award of the penalty.

Lugo will now face Cádiz and Ponferradina will play Tenerife over two legs, the winners of each tie joining Real Madrid Castilla & CD Mirandés in the second division. Speaking of which, Mirandés and Castilla met on Saturday evening in the second leg of the fairly pointless tie to establish the supreme champion of Segunda B. Castilla held a three goal advantage from the first leg and quickly added to their lead thanks to Morata’s sharp turn and shot. Castilla’s top scorer Joselu tapped in a second on 41 minutes and got his second of the game from the penalty spot on 87 minutes.

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There will be another update after the next round of games, but in the meantime you can catch up on all the clubs participating in the play-offs by visiting Estadios de Fútbol en España.

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