Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto make a strong start to the group stage

 Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto’s youth team won 30–25 this afternoon against CBM Maristas Málaga in a match Fertiberia dominated from start to finish through great defensive work, giving their opponents no opportunity.

The first half began with the red-and-whites overwhelming their opponents. Thanks to strong defending and saves from Adrián Porras, the hosts established a four-goal lead (4–0). David Núñez’s men remained focused on their combination play despite Málaga’s timid reaction after taking advantage of their first numerical superiority. Maristas Málaga reacted by capitalising on the red-and-whites’ turnovers to move within two goals (8–6), prompting David Núñez to call a time-out to halt the visitors’ good run. In the final minutes of the first half, errors followed one another from both teams given the evenness on court, and Fertiberia saw their four-goal lead reduced to just two (14–12).

The second half continued in the same vein, with the red-and-whites missing in attack and the visitors taking advantage of those errors to prevent Fertiberia from pulling away on the scoreboard. Backed by their supporters, the red-and-whites improved defensively, causing a breakdown in the Málaga side. With ten minutes remaining, Maristas Málaga levelled the score at 23 goals, setting alarm bells ringing for an uncertain Fertiberia. Ultimately, the red-and-whites recovered from their poor spell with a strong finish, thanks to their iron defence, to secure their first victory (30–25).

Fertiberia’s next fixture will be tomorrow, in the second group match, from 18:00, against CBM Maristas Cartagena.

Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto: Alejandro Alfonso (6), Luis Arnau (1), Hermes Aznar (2), Jorge Ballester (2), Víctor Berenguel, Sergio Berrocal, Pablo del Rincón (4), Adrià Galán (1), Pablo Granero, Alvaro Huguet, Ángel López (7), José Mª Piro (1), Adrián Porras, Vicente Sánchez (2), Gabi Sánchez (4) and Ángel Perez.

CBM Maristas Málaga:Álvaro Armada (3), Sergio Benitez (1), Guillermo Caracuel, Alberto Fernández (3), José Ángel Gómez (9), Adrián Jimenez (2), Salvador Moreno (1), Alejandro Rodríguez, Felipe Sánchez, Carlos Sánchez, Pablo Torres, Álvaro Cabello, Antonio Escobar, Diego González (2) and Ignacio Quero (4).

For Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto, Luis Arnau (D) and Pablo del Rincón (2) were suspended; for CBM Maristas Málaga, Felipe Sánchez and Álvaro Cabello were suspended.

Score at five-minute intervals: 3–0, 5–3, 7–4, 9–6, 11–9, 14–12 Half-time 15–13, 17–14, 21–17, 23–22, 25–24, 30–25 Full-time. Municipal Indoor Sports Pavilion in the Inter-Nuclei area, “Ovni”. 600 spectators.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.