It was all about Nino, the small striker with a big heart had announced he would be leaving CD Tenerife for next season. The home game with Ponferradina was a chance to say thanks and farewell to our hero, the dour 1-1 draw wasn’t a classic game but we were graced with a classic gutsy, never give up performance from Nino including a goal after 15 minutes.
Mikel Alonso another of the better players from this nightmare relegation season won the ball and laid it on to Nino he drew the keeper, took the ball wide and slotted it into the corner of the net for his 17th of the season. The first half was pretty poor, goalkeeper Sergio Aragoneses made a couple of decent saves, he also has plenty of credit with the fans after saving the day so many times and his name was sung with pride and affection.
Omar is one of the home grown players of recent years that hasn’t progressed as well as hoped, he went close with Pablo Sicilia in a rare attacking blitz that saw the woodwork deny a 2-0 lead. Ricardo is in a similar vein but his decline has been more dramatic and along with injured captain Bertran he received stinging abuse including a banner naming them as being the first rats to leave the relegated ship.
The club and the league did their best between them to ruin the last home game by picking a 5 pm kick off, just a few hours before the Champions League final, the 5,960 crowd should have been more for Nino’s swansong. The second half was a mass homage to the popular striker, both sides had a player sent off, first Ponferradina’s Prieto for a second yellow and 20 minutes into the half a similar fate befell Bellvis.
The B team youngsters again showed they will give us a fighting chance in Segunda B next season, German unlocked the visiting defence with a brilliant cross pitch ball that deserved a better finish from Omar. Josmar came on for his usual cameo, it will be good to see him doing 90 minutes in future. The talented Venezuelan excited the crowd with his dazzling late charge at goal leaving defenders trailing in his wake.
Acoran tied the game after Sergio’s ill timed clearance but the score was of little importance to either team.The chants for Nino were growing louder and more prolonged and with 3 minutes of play left he was taken off so he could milk the applause that he has earned during his time at the club. The end of an era, Nino goes with the best wishes of the fans and our eternal gratitude and we will always remember his goals.
