Fertiberia travel to Puente Genil with absences but plenty of enthusiasm and determination

Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto will face Ángel Ximénez Puente Genil tomorrow in the first leg of the Copa del Rey tie, from 21:00. The red-and-whites are travelling on the day with more enthusiasm than absences as they seek to remain in the competition and beat an Asobal team again. Red-and-white coach Vicent Nogués says, “We have absences, but also plenty of enthusiasm because it is a different competition. We have already beaten an Asobal team and want to continue progressing through the rounds. It will be difficult because of the strength of the opposition, but it will not be for lack of enthusiasm or hard work.” Regarding the opposition, the coach says “They are a very complete team who are comfortably placed in Asobal. The squad is well equipped in every area, and their long-range shooting stands out—something we see few teams in the second tier possess to that extent.” After suffering their first home defeat of the season “The team are a little bruised mentally. It is a defeat we are finding difficult to come to terms with, until we started rolling the ball, because in five minutes we lost a match we had worked hard for but had practically won,” according to Vicent. “It was not a good defensive performance; we had many lapses. You cannot allow a team to score 19 goals in the first half. We then struggled in attack and were not sharp, although, by hook or by crook, we managed to take the lead. When we had the match under control, leading by three with five minutes remaining, they opened up their defence and we began to hesitate and execute poorly in attack in situations we could have handled. A veteran team like ours cannot afford those mistakes,” the red-and-white coach concluded, taking stock.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.