<strong>Fertiberia take the derby points after winning in Alicante</strong>

Fertiberia Balonmano Puerto Sagunto beat Eón Horneo Alicante 24-25 in a closely fought match, in which the home side led for almost the entire second half, until Fertiberia turned the score around in the closing stages of the game. The red-and-whites remain unbeaten leaders and can take comfort from having Eón’s points should the Alicante side progress to the promotion phase.

The match began at a very fast pace with an even scoreline, which the red-and-whites broke after the first quarter of an hour thanks to good defensive work and goals from Nolasco (5), Poveda (5) and Pau Ferre (4) among others. Alicante came close to levelling the scoreboard by taking advantage of Malla’s side’s errors to launch counter-attacks, but they could not overcome the Puerto side, who maintained their intensity and restored a two-goal lead. With all this, they went into half-time 13-15 ahead.

After the interval, Eón, who needed to win to remain in control of their own destiny in the promotion phase, came out firing and turned the score around to lead by two. Malla called a time-out but Jimenez remained unstoppable in attack. From the 15th minute onwards, the Puerto side tightened up their defence and got back into the match, restoring parity on the scoreboard. Two counter-attacking goals from Manzano, following two attacking fouls by the Alicante side, put the red-and-whites back in front. The home coach stopped the match in an attempt to snatch a point in the final minute, but it was not to be and Fertiberia won the derby by the narrowest margin.

Match details:

Eón Horneo Alicante: Adrián Torres, David Jimenez (11), Yeray Mancebo, Martin Ariel (2), Sergio Martínez (2), Mirallave (1), Serrano, Emil (4), Juande Linares (4), Padilla, Quiles, Joaquin Delgado, Alberto González, Kouni, Miguel Ángel Martínez, Moll.

Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto: Ignasi Admella (1), Porras (1), Alex Ortega, Nil Montserrat (2), Álvaro Del Valle (3), Aron Díaz, Pau Ferre (4), Daniel Martínez, Adrián Nolasco (5), Arnau Fernández, Manzano (2), Sedano, Albizu (1), Poveda (5), David López (1), Olivares.

Score by periods: 3-2, 7-6, 8-9, 9-11, 11-13, 13-15, 17-16, 20-17, 21-18, 22-21.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.