Alser Puerto Sagunto once again show their forgotten values

 Alser BM Puerto Sagunto drew 22–22 with BM Huesca in an exciting match in which the team performed at a good level despite their relegation having already been confirmed.

The defensive intensity, with a compact 6–0, Bruixola’s contribution—phenomenal during this final stretch of the league—their fighting spirit and refusal to give up on any ball were once again the hallmarks of this BM Puerto Sagunto side managed by Alberto Estornell. Today in Huesca, without their two left backs, Chelu Cid and Alfredo Sorrentino, with a negligible contribution from their two right backs, Muiña and Stefanovic, and without Ruben Ruiz’s fighting spirit after he was injured, the Valencians demonstrated that they have far more Asobal handball in them than their meagre ten points suggest. Among the individual performances, it is worth highlighting the minutes played by the young Marko Dzokic, who returned to the line-up after suffering his second knee cruciate ligament injury in the opening match in Cuenca. Fernando Latorre also deserves a mention for his outstanding performance: his 10 goals made him the match’s top scorer.

 The opening stages were closely contested, with both teams making mistakes. Alser were having problems in defence against the wings’ movements. In attack, however, they were much better under Latorre’s direction, as he dismantled Huesca’s open defence. After a time-out, the home side reacted and moved 7–6 ahead. From the 25th minute onwards, Huesca maintained a three-goal lead (11–8) and went into half-time having done their job well (13–11).

The second half began at a good pace, and the red-and-white side took advantage of their attacking moves to make it 17–16. In the 23rd minute, the scores were level at 21–21, and an exciting finish was expected. First, Huesca lost the ball during an attacking move, giving Alser the opportunity to take the lead with 15 seconds remaining, but the scoring table denied them that possibility in an incredible decision. Alberto Estornell placed the green time-out card on the table and the buzzer sounded, while one second after it sounded, Huesca stole the ball. The table decided to favour the home side and incredibly claimed that the green card had been placed after Alser no longer had possession. The referees, understandably, followed the table’s unacceptable decision and, as they could not see the incident captured live by the Digital Plus cameras, gave the ball to the home side, who were unable to score.

 Ultimately, this was a match that could have brought a second away victory, but the scoring table did not want it to. The Ovni’s farewell to the Liga Asobal, and captain Pachi Peg’s farewell, will take place on Saturday the 19th at 18:30 against Maygar Antequera.

BM Huesca: Voncina, Rodríguez (ps); Bartolomé (2), Saubich (3, 2p), Ancizu (2), Esteban (1), Pesic (1), Cano, Álvarez (4, 2p), Ruiz (1), Grau (2), Tremps (2), Vieyra (3) and Mira (1)

Alser BM Puerto Sagunto: Bruixola (1), Ibáñez (ps); Rubén Ruiz (1), Moya Florido (2), Stefanovic, Moya, Sifré (1), Dzokic, Tarrasó (3), Muiña (1), Nebot (1), Fernández, Prendes (2) and Latorre (10).

Referees: Ruiz González and Fernández Zapico. Two-minute suspensions were given to the home team’s Cano (2), Esteban and Vieyra, and to the visitors’ Rubén Ruiz, Prendes and Moya.

Score at five-minute intervals: 2–1, 4–4, 6–6, 8–7, 11–8 and 13–11 (half-time) 15–13, 17–16, 18–17, 20–19, 21–21 and 22–22 (full time)

Palacio de los Deportes de Huesca.1,700 spectators.

Image of the time-out denied to Alser by the scoring table.

(Mobile phone capture directly from TV. Apologies for the image quality)

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.