To Ibiza with a long-awaited return in the squad

Fertiberia Balonmano visit Trasmapi HC Eivissa this Saturday from 20:00 at the Blancadona Island Pavilion on matchday eleven of the Men’s Silver Honour Division.

The red-and-whites come into the match on the back of three consecutive victories at the Port de Sagunt Pavilion: against BM Caserío Ciudad Real (30-20) in the first tie of the 2026 Copa S. M. el Rey, and against Confía Balonmano Base Oviedo (28-21) and Balonmano Soria (34-29) in the league. The latter allowed them to remain in the promotion play-off places for the Liga Nexus Energía ASOBAL, fifth with thirteen points and a game in hand against Trops Málaga.

“I would like to highlight Javier Olivares’s return after almost two years. He is not yet at 100%, but he is already beginning to take part in the team’s sessions, so he will travel with his team-mates and be included in the squad. He has shown wonderful resilience and, when he is fully fit, we will have a hugely important player, as well as one from our academy,” emphasises first-team coach Toni Malla regarding the main new inclusion in the squad.

The island side, meanwhile, arrive after suffering a narrow defeat (29-28) at La Catedral against one of the leading candidates for promotion to the top tier of Spanish handball, Anaitasuna. They have only managed to pick up two points in one of their last four matches, against Balonmano Alcobendas (31-23). This has seen them drop out of the promotion places, where they had spent several weeks at the start of the competition. They are currently eighth in the overall table with ten points.

“This is one of the matches in which the opponent facing us will demand the highest possible level of concentration; they are extremely dangerous. They demonstrate that in many offensive and defensive aspects, and defensively they maintain a strong unit. I hope we can secure the two points, because that is our objective,” warns the Tortosa native about the difficulty posed by the opponents and their style of play.

Their coaching staff continues to consist of the Eugenio Tilves–Hugo Suárez partnership, as head coach and assistant coach respectively. They have suffered as many as eleven departures, including Fabio Teixeira, Álex Malid, Diego Prada and Javier Bodí. Nine players have renewed, including key figures such as the goalkeeping pair Jorge Broto and Ignacio Pérez, Mauri Basaldo, Roman Chychykalo and Franco Gavidia. This season’s signings are allowing the Ibiza side to dream of securing a higher position than the ninth place they achieved in 2024–2025. Among others, they have brought in the young centre-back Fernando González, on loan from Batcho BM Torrelavega; Argentine pivot Juan Montoto; left-back Marc Ferré, brother of our former player Pau Ferré; Biel Valera and Marc Vega from Fraikin BM Granollers; and Santiago Canepa (BM Caserío Ciudad Real) and Karlos Rubio (Horneo Eón Alicante) from the two teams promoted to ASOBAL last season.

In addition, three days ago they announced a new signing: pivot Joel Parrarols, from UE Sarrià, the Catalan team with which he made his debut in the Silver Division. He will have the opportunity to make his debut against the Puerto Sagunt side.

In the two matches last season, the Valencian Community side managed to beat the Balearic Islands team both in the first leg (34-26), played in January because of the DANA, and away in the second leg (30-32) in March.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.