Fertiberia move into second place after winning the derby at Pitiu Rochel

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Fertiberia Balonmano Puerto Sagunto narrowly win the derby 23–24 in a match in which the red-and-whites fought and knew how to suffer until the end. Toni Malla’s side move into second place with 22 points, two behind the leaders. They secured mathematical qualification for the group fighting for promotion to the Sacyr ASOBAL league. They also remain unstoppable and unbeaten so far this year.

The match began very evenly. Fertiberia initially moved ahead on the scoreboard, but the home side took advantage of Malla’s team being reduced to put themselves back in front. The red-and-white coach called a timeout, but the Alicante side went two goals clear by running the counter-attack and exploiting the visitors’ attacking errors. The defence tightened up and Admella began to stop the home side’s onslaught, allowing the red-and-whites to turn the score around again in the 25th minute. The Alicante coach called a timeout, but there was little they could do against a Fertiberia side that had shut up shop in goal and was quick on the counter. As a result, they went into half-time with the score at 11–12 after a seven-metre goal by Mirallave.

After the interval, Fertiberia built a five-goal lead thanks to Ignasi’s saves and the attacking accuracy of Poveda, Ortega, Díaz and Manzano. From then on, Alicante tried until the end, getting within two goals of an equaliser on two occasions. With five minutes left, Alicante moved to within one goal of sharing the points, but the red-and-whites held firm and ultimately took the derby and two hugely important points.

MATCH DETAILS:

Eón Horneo Alicante: Enrique, Mirallave (2), David Jimenez, Yeray, Sergio Martínez (1), Didac, Emil (2), Juande (9), Padilla, Luis Hernández, Joaquin Delgado (3), Pavel, Alberto González, Novais (5), Moll (1), Quiles.

Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto: Ignasi Admella, Alfonso, Ortega (4), Del Valle (2), Aron Diaz Ledo (5), , Valter Soares (1), Daniel Martínez, Pablo Del Rincón (1), Nolasco (2), Manzano (4), Sedano (1), Luis Arnau, Poveda (4), Matic.

Scores: 3–3, 5–5, 7–5, 7–7, 9–8, 11–12, 12–16, 14–17, 18–20, 21–22, 23–24

Officials: Emil was suspended for Eón Horneo Alicante. For Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto, Soares, Del Rincón, Nolasco (2) and Sedano were suspended.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.