Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto fall apart in Granollers

Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto lost 35–20 away to Fraikin BM Granollers after a lamentable start to the second half by the red-and-whites.

The match had two clearly contrasting halves, with the first bearing no resemblance to the second. In the first half, the Valencian defence and David Bruixola’s saves kept Pachi Martí’s side in the match, despite the fact that the Valencian team’s shooters, Sladic and Corzo, were not having their best afternoon. The intense Vallès 6–0 defence stopped them, as well as the Brazilian pivot Pozzer, who could not get past Puig and Garcia at the heart of the Granollers defence. Nevertheless, Sayad’s good reading of the game and, as mentioned, the red-and-whites’ defensive intensity meant that, although Granollers were always ahead, they could not pull away and went into half-time leading 14–11. This highlighted Fertiberia’s attacking ineffectiveness but allowed the Valencians to retain hopes of a comeback.

Nothing could have been further from what happened next: an utterly disastrous attacking start, with turnovers and poor shot selection, saw Granollers score a 4–0 run after two and a half minutes, extending their lead to seven and prompting Pachi Martí to call his first time-out of the second half. Nothing changed and the Vallès side’s scoring spree intensified, based on their tremendous 6–0 defence and the Brazilian goalkeeper Almeida, who was outstanding, especially during that opening spell of the second half. Counter-attack after counter-attack, the Vallès side repeatedly beat Bruixola, taking the second-half score to a decisive 9–1. This not only ended any hint of hope for Fertiberia, but, worse still, left them with no arguments whatsoever. During that period, the ineffective Corzo of the first half found his shooting touch and improved his statistics, becoming the attacking mainstay of a Fertiberia side that watched the clock more closely, hoping the ordeal would end, than thought about anything else.

The final quarter of an hour was purely ceremonial, with both teams making successive substitutions and already thinking more about their next fixture than this match. Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto’s next fixture will be at the Ovni, after two consecutive away matches, against neighbours BM Benidorm, who defeated Puente Genil in this round. That will be next Saturday at 20:30, with the Movistar+ cameras at the Ovni. Pachi Martí will undoubtedly focus during the week on restoring his players’ spirits after today’s heavy defeat away to the first of the mortals in this Liga Bauhaus Asobal, a Fraikin Granollers side who have made it three wins from three at the start of the league season.

Fraikin BM Granollers:  Almeida and Sastre. Teixeira (4), Porras (2), Blanxart, Marc Garcia (1), Ferrer, Arnau (2), Adriá (1), Figueras (6), Solé (4), Cañellas (2), Resina (4), Gassama (4), Puig and Toledo Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto: Bruixola, Ibrahim, Sladic (1), Pocholo (3), Tarrasó (1), Sayad (1), Berrios, Pozzer (3), Corzo (5), Nebot (1), Ángel (3), Sasa (2), Piró and Sarió (1). Referees: Fernández and García. For Fraikin, Teixeira, García and Puig were excluded, and for Fertiberia, Tarrasó (2) and Angel (2). Score at five-minute intervals: 2–2, 6–3, 9–5, 10–7, 12–10, 14–11. Half-time 19–12, 23–12, 27–15, 29–18, 32–19, 35–20. Full-time. Palau D’Esports, 1,200 spectators.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.