Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto suffer another defeat

Fertiberia handball Puerto Sagunto suffer another defeat in the regional derby against BM Benidorm, losing 36-26. In a match where, once again, a poor start condemned them to lose two points that are beginning to be worth their weight in gold. This was compounded by Roberto Rodríguez's saves (16 saves) and Querín's red card in the opening minutes. After the interval, it seemed that the red-and-white team were finally getting into the match, but it was not to be and they eventually lost by 10 goals.

The start of the match at l’Illa de Benidorm was marked by three saves from the Benidorm goalkeeper and the opening score. Coach Vicent Nogués stopped the match on two occasions. The first time, the match did not improve; if anything, it worsened with the questionable straight red card shown to Leo Querín. On the second occasion, taking advantage of the home side's numerical disadvantage, Fertiberia gained some breathing space through Pau Guitart's saves and goals from Pozzer, Chen and Alex Gil, reducing the deficit to five goals and going into half-time 19-14 down.

After the interval, the red-and-whites came out more focused than the home side, who missed their first attempts, and Nogués' team moved to within three goals with a 2-8 run. However, the Benidorm goalkeeping once again shut up shop and they extended their lead again, moving six goals ahead.

At the end of the match, Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto coach Vicent Nogués stated: ‘We started very badly; we had a disastrous opening few minutes, missing shots, while the goalkeeping did not make many saves for us early on. After the interval we moved to within three goals, but little by little we fell back into the same pattern as at the start, with little attacking efficiency and too much space in defence. We needed to stay closer together, and that made it easy for Benidorm to win the match.’

Match details

BM Benidorm: Roberto Rodríguez, Porras (4), Rivero (5), Borja Méndez (4), Jaka (2), Pepe Oliver (1), Jules (1), Emil, Lewis (4), Grau, Mario López (9), Nolasco (2), Iván Rodríguez (1), Nikcevic, Leonardo Vial, Folqués (3),

Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto: Guitart, Miralles (1), Mirallave, Querin (1), Gil (2), Camacho (2), Carou (1), Dani Martínez, Corzo (2), Aizen (3), Dija (2), Roney, Óscar García (1), Chen (3), Kozina (3), Pozzer (5).

Score progression: 3-0, 7-3, 10-5, 13-5, 17-10, 19-14, 21-19, 26-20, 28-22, 31-24, 33-25, 36-26

Referees: José Manuel Iniesta Castillo and Alberto García Rodríguez. For BM Benidorm, Porras, Pepe Oliver, Lewis, Grau and Folqués were excluded. For Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto, Querin was excluded (straight red card).

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.