Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto finish the first phase top after beating Barça B

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Fertiberia Balonmano Puerto Sagunto secured an important 31–30 victory over Barça B in a closely fought match in which they showed great resilience until the end after Barça overturned the lead Toni Malla's side had taken into half-time. The red-and-whites finish the first phase of the competition top of Group B and advance with 10 points to the next phase, where they will battle for promotion against the top five from Group A.

The match began very evenly, as befitted the final for top spot. Barça soon took the lead, imposing a fast pace on the match. Little by little, the red-and-whites reduced the deficit with Manzano's counter-attacking goals and the attacking accuracy of Poveda, Ortega and Del Rincón. Barça tried to reduce the home team's lead by winning the ball and running on the counter-attack, but despite this they could not draw level and went into half-time 16–12 down.

After the interval, Barça came out onto the Ovni's blue court determined to show why they had arrived at the Ovni as leaders. The blaugrana turned the score around by tightening their defence and imposing their style of play, and from the 12th minute onwards it seemed that victory would come down to luck. But Del Rincón and Sedano refused to leave anything to chance and summoned their fighting spirit to restore their team's lead. They were not the only ones to make the difference in the final two minutes: Admella shut up shop in goal and prevented the two points from leaving the Ovni. The arena became a party once again; the fans cheered from start to finish and ended the chants by singing the classic, ‘El Puerto es de Asobal’. Now only 10 matches remain to make it a reality.

MATCH REPORT:

Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto: Ignasi Admella, Alfonso (2), Ortega (5), Del Valle (1), Aron Diaz Ledo, Valter Soares, Daniel Martínez, Pablo Del Rincón (9), Nolasco (2), Manzano (3), Sedano (5), Luis Arnau, Poveda (4), Matic.

Barça B: Jordi, Alberto Pujol, Palomino (7), Pujol (2), López (8), Pau Morer, Zarzuela, Domenech, Reguard (1), Soler (5), Ruíz, Cenic (3), Laliga (1), Basaela (1), Urdangarin (2).

Scores: 1–2, 4–6, 8–7, 11–8, 13–10, 16–12, 17–15, 19–18, 22–21, 25–26, 29–28, 31–30

Referees: Sergio Gutiérrez López and Sergio Martínez Mirón. Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto players Del Rincón (2), Nolasco and Sedano were excluded. For Barça B: Morer, Zarzuela and Reguard.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.