Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto miss a golden opportunity to secure survival

Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto lost 22–25 this afternoon to Juanfersa Grupo Fegar in a match billed as vital for survival, but the Valencians were unable to do anything to claim victory.

The first half did not begin particularly well for the red-and-whites, as Juanfersa took to the court imposing their defence against Fertiberia’s erratic attack, allowing the Gijón side to take an early lead (0–2). The response from Patxi Martí’s men was not long in coming, and they levelled the score. The teams remained evenly matched, but as the game progressed the red-and-whites imposed their formidable defence to cancel out all of Juanfersa’s options. The negative moment came in the 15th minute, when Moriñigo went off injured, adding to the red-and-white injury list during an important stage of the season. Despite this setback, Fertiberia stayed in the game at 9–9 and looked clear-headed on court. Ultimately, the Valencians went into the dressing room trailing 11–12 after missing several chances in the final stages.

The second half began with Fertiberia more switched on, and they managed to overturn the one-goal deficit, but quickly suffered a suspension that helped the Gijón side get back into the game. Midway through the second half, the balance tipped in favour of Juanfersa Grupo Fegar, who moved three goals ahead (16–19), prompting a Fertiberia time-out as they could not find a way to stop Costoya’s long-range shooting. To address this, Patxi Martí switched to a mixed defence to mark Costoya, which caused Alberto Suárez’s team to hesitate. In the end, Fertiberia could not complete the comeback and ran out of energy to fight in the final minutes, allowing Juanfersa Grupo Fegar to take the points (22–25) and setting alarm bells ringing at the Ovni.

Fertiberia’s next fixture will be the 26th round of the ASOBAL league against Naturhouse La Rioja next Saturday 19 April from 18:30, with Teledeporte cameras broadcasting live.

Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto: Bruixola, Samuel, Marc Andreu, Rubén Ruiz (3), Moriñigo (1), Tarrasó (3), Lluna, Berrios (2), Apelgren (4), Grau (4), Plaza (5), Toni Alegre, Nebot, Fernández, Roque and Dimitrievski.

Juanfersa Grupo Fegar:Fernández, Golubovic (1), Ruesga, Cakic (1), Costoya (7), Fernández (2), Huerta (1), Pellitero (4), Savic, Cancio (1), Acetti (5), Vallado, Pablo Fernández, Serdio (3), Paraja and Samuel.

For Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto, Nebot, Fernández and Dimitrievski were suspended; for Juanfersa Grupo Fegar, Cakic was suspended.

Score at five-minute intervals:  1–2, 3–4, 6–6, 9–8, 10–9, 11–12 Half-time 14–14, 15–16, 16–18, 18–22, 21–22, 22–25 Full-time. Municipal Sports Centre Internúcleos “Ovni”. 1,300 spectators.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.