Tight at the top

As the dust clears from Liga Adelante matchday eight, RC Recreativo de Huelva has established itself in first place and the tussle continues at the top end of the table, where second place Real Sporting de Gijón are only three points ahead of UD Las Palmas, who are currently tenth.

Huelva, who recorded a 2-1 victory over CD Tenerife, has a four point advantage over Sporting, who were unable to break the deadlock on their visit to CD Numancia. Four teams (SD Ponferradina, Real Murcia CF, Córdoba CF and CD Mirandés) find themselves one point behind the outfit from Asturias and two points away is another group of three teams (AD Alcorcón, CD Lugo, and RC Deportivo de La Coruña), a demonstration of the parity and passion in this year's Liga Adelante, where a win or loss can move a team several rungs.

In one of the weekend's most eagerly awaited matches, which threw together the two favourites for promotion (RCD Mallorca and Real Zaragoza) on Sunday, the team from Aragon recorded a comfortable win (2-4) to hoist itself to the middle of the table. Another mouth-watering encounter saw Girona FC and CE Sabadell FC draw one all in the Catalonian derby.

Finally, the bottom of the table brought Real Madrid Castilla its long-awaited first three points with a 2-0 win over CD Lugo, and a well-earned 3-2 victory for Real Jaén against Real Murcia in a frantic clash.

Liga Adelante Matchday 8:
Deportivo Alavés - Hércules CF 3-1
Real Madrid Castilla - CD Lugo 2-0
RC Recreativo de Huelva - CD Tenerife 2-1
Girona CF - CE Sabadell FC 1-1
SD Eibar - AD Alcorcón 0-0
SD Ponferradina - FC Barcelona B 1-0
Real Jaén CF - Real Murcia CF 3-2
RCD Mallorca - Real Zaragoza 2-4
RC Deportivo de La Coruña - CD Mirandés 0-0
CD Numancia - Real Sporting de Gijón 0-0
UD Las Palmas - Córdoba CF 2-0