The top-of-the-table derby will be played on Saturday at the Ovni

Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto host EON Horneo Alicante in the battle for first place in the table

Fertiberia Balonmano Puerto Sagunto will play the regional derby against EON Horneo Alicante next Saturday, 18 November, from 18:30 at the Ovni. The match, corresponding to Matchday 8 of the División de Honor Plata, is a true final for top spot. Toni Malla’s side want to defend their lead against the team in second place, who arrive with one point fewer than the red and whites (10).

Red-and-white coach Toni Malla said of the derby: ‘We are excited about a new week in which we have another important match among those remaining before the end of the first half of the season. We are facing an opponent we have played many times. We know each other very well’.

Regarding the opposition, Malla added: ‘They are a team built to gain promotion. Luis is doing a great job and the team are playing very well; I think they are the strongest opponent we have faced so far. They know exactly how they want to play and have great players who know how to manage the rhythm of matches’

Malla has no doubt that this is one of the most difficult matches of the season: ‘We are facing the biggest challenge of the season so far, together with the match in Málaga, where we played well, but we have to keep our feet on the ground and remain very humble if we want to get something positive from it. Yes, we arrive as leaders and we are doing things well, but in this type of match, that has nothing to do with it’

The fans could once again be a decisive factor in securing both points from this match and remaining top of the group: ‘It will be a match in which details and goalkeeping will be extremely important, and I think that if we want to win, the decisive factor will be our supporters. The fans have to help ensure that those factors we cannot control fall in our favour. So I hope the Ovni is packed and continues to show that it is the best support in the División de Honor Plata. In the end, this is a supporters-and-players union that is working very well, and we must continue like this’.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.