Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto let the points slip away in the final minutes

Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto lost 27–21 this afternoon against Cuatro Rayas Valladolid in a match that Fertiberia let slip away in the crucial minutes, allowing the home side to move away from the relegation places.

The first half began with Fertiberia striking first thanks to goals from Grau and Plaza after several consecutive saves by Bruixola, who started the match in Valladolid fully focused. The red-and-white intensity did not let up until they quickly established a four-goal lead (1–5), prompting a Cuatro Rayas Valladolid time-out, as they were being overrun by the Valencians. Midway through the first half, the red-and-whites continued their frenetic start thanks to their solid defensive work and ball steals. Nacho González’s men were quick to respond with a 4–1 run, but Fertiberia regained control after seeing the gap reduced, moving four goals ahead again (7–11). Backed by their supporters, the Valladolid side produced a 2–0 run by taking advantage of the many turnovers by both teams, forcing Patxi Martí to stop the match with a time-out to halt the home side’s momentum. In the closing moments, Fertiberia lost Sasa Dukic after he fractured a finger on his left hand, which weakened the red-and-white defence. Cuatro Rayas Valladolid took advantage to reduce the deficit and send the teams into the dressing rooms at 11–13.

Fertiberia had to regroup as soon as the second half began after Sasa Dukic’s injury, so Patxi Martí made changes in both attack and defence. From the 40th minute onwards, Fertiberia experienced its worst spell of the match, as Valladolid levelled at 14 by exploiting doubts in defence and errors in the red-and-white counter-attack. There were too many nerves on court from both teams in a match marked by turnovers and interruptions from the officials. The scores were level again after several chances were stopped by Lamariano and Cacheda put in a good performance on his return from injury. Ultimately, Cuatro Rayas Valladolid were more clinical in attack and, with a compact defence in the final minutes, overcame Fertiberia 27–21.

Fertiberia’s next fixture will be the 25th round of the ASOBAL League against Juanfersa Grupo Fegar next Saturday, 12 April, from 18:30.

Cuatro Rayas Valladolid:Lamariano, Porras (1), López (1), Peciña (1), Lacasa (1), Juarez (2), Hernández (5), Cacheda (6), Tarazaga (2), César Pérez, Corzo (4), Megias, Delgado, Roberto Pérez (4) and Bozovic.

Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto: Bruixola, Samuel, Rubén Ruiz (1), Moriñigo (2), Lluna, Berrios, Apelgren (4), Grau (6), Plaza (3), Toni Alegre (2), Nebot (1), Fernández, Dukic, Roque and Dimitrievski (2).

Officials: Javier Álvarez Mata and Ion Bustamante López (Basque Country and Navarre Regional Federation).

For Cuatro Rayas Valladolid, Hernández (2) and Delgado were excluded; for Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto, Grau and Fernández (2) were excluded.

Score at five-minute intervals:  1–2, 4–7, 6–8, 7–11, 9–12, 11–13 Half-time 12–15, 16–16, 18–17, 19–19, 23–20, 27–21 Full-time. Huerta del Rey Sports Centre.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.