Fertiberia hold Barça for 15 minutes but eventually lose

Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto lost (43-25) to Barça in a match in which they dominated and held their own against the leaders for the first 15 minutes. After half-time, Barça came out to win and Nogués's side lost their way. The match marked Miralles's Liga Sacyr ASOBAL debut, and he scored a goal. In addition, young goalkeeper Dani Martínez enjoyed more minutes and made saves in the second half.

The match did not begin as expected. The red-and-whites controlled the game and led on the scoreboard until the 15th minute (9-10), when the hosts began to show why they are the unbeaten leaders. Bruno, Aizen and Pomeranz's defence and goals were key. Although the final minutes of the first half belonged to Barça, Nogués's side managed to go into the break with the score at 19-14.

After the interval, Barça came out firing and determined not to find themselves in trouble again. The gap on the scoreboard gradually increased until they had moved ten goals clear.

After the match, red-and-white assistant coach Vicent Rosaleny said that ‘the truth is that we produced a very serious, hard-working first half. We executed our long attacks very well and they worked effectively. It is important to point out that we stayed in the game until the 15th minute. At the end of the first half, turnovers punished us. Bruno contributed a great deal in that first period. In the second half, the turnovers and the pace of the match, with only 13 players available — we travelled without Dija, Corzo, Carou and Óscar — together with the great team we had in front of us, meant that we lost by such a wide margin. Dani Martínez was very good in goal, making many saves, and in the end all the outfield players scored’.

Match details:

Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto: Guitart, Miralles (1), Mirallave (1), Querin (2), Alex Gil (2), Camacho (1), Dani Martínez, Aizen (3), Alegre (3), Roney, Pomeranz (3), Burno (7), Pozzer (2).

Barça: Pérez de Vargas, Casper (7), Entrerrios (3), Cedric (1), Jure (3), Ariño (4), Timothey, Aleix Gómez (11), Petrus, Mamadou (2), Dika Mem (1), Pálmarsson (1), Makuc (2), Kevin Moller, Langaro (2), Sousa (6)

Scores: 3-4, 7-6, 9-10, 12-10, 16-13, 19-14 (half-time), 23-15, 24-17, 30-19, 33-20, 37-22, 43-25

Referees: Jordi Ausás and Miguel Florenza. They suspended Cedric for Barça. For Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto, they suspended Miralles and Camacho.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.