League Play-Off

Estadio Txikierdi
Spectators: 35 (Terracing: 27, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Lander Cortes started the match with the kick off. In the 3rd minute, Mino Rallo left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Txikierdi fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 1-0. In the 7th minute of the match Idacio Babia shot from a long distance. The ball could have gone into the goal to the right of the goalkeeper, but Amarante Gandia showed his good shape when he easily got hold of the ball. Lander Cortes's late challenge caught a Txikierdi's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Lander Cortes helped the player get up and apologised. 13 minutes into the match, Estebano Acosta had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Lamberto Valdivia. Montes De San Benito's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Estebano Acosta was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 2-0. Cesareo Canosa's late challenge caught a Txikierdi's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Cesareo Canosa helped the player get up and apologised. After a rather tough play, Montes De San Benito's Cesareo Canosa got a free kick in the 17th minute. Lamberto Valdivia made a fantastic save in the 18th minute, when Pepe Morado sent off a good shot on target. Amarante Gandia showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Xamo Rapado, who was totally free with the ball in the 22nd minute. In the 31st minute, Txikierdi's Estebano Acosta dribbled the ball into the box and hit a shot with the outside of his foot, sending the keeper the wrong way. 3-0. An unexpectedly hard shot by Estebano Acosta in the 34th minute of play forced Montes De San Benito's goalkeeper Lamberto Valdivia to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. If Xamo Rapado had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 38th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. The home fans were very happy to see their team leading 3-1 at half-time.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Estebano Acosta to make the kick off. Lander Cortes might have been able to make a better finish in the 57th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Amarante Gandia. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Lander Cortes ran back to his position shaking his head. An unexpectedly hard shot by Pepe Morado in the 61st minute of play forced Montes De San Benito's goalkeeper Lamberto Valdivia to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. When Pepe Morado came up free with the goalie in the 65th minute, the Txikierdi fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Pepe Morado couldn't finish the play. After a rather tough play, Txikierdi's Pepe Morado got a free kick in the 71st minute. After 72 minutes, Xamo Rapado made it 4-3 with a short kick to the right side. Txikierdi's Amarante Gandia tried to save the shot but he was too slow in reacting to the shot. Amarante Gandia showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Lander Cortes in the 78th minute of the match. Xamo Rapado recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 82nd minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. 88 minutes into the match, Montes De San Benito's Lander Cortes sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Amarante Gandia narrowly saved just below the crossbar. Pepe Morado sent away a hard shot on goal in the 94th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Txikierdi's fans were exulted and cheered after their team won in a match that could easily have gone the other way.