Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto crowned Valencian Community Youth Champions

FERTIBERIA BM. PUERTO SAGUNTO have been crowned men’s regional youth champions after defeating ILE SPAIN FLORIDA (22–23) on Sundayat the ONDA Municipal Pavilion (Castellón).

The match lived up to the intensity and excitement that had been anticipated. Catarroja’s presumed advantage, based on the two victories they had achieved against the Puerto Sagunto side during the provincial phase (31–26 and 25–27), was offset by the injury absence of their left back Samuel Acevedo. Even so, Javier Martínez’s players led on the scoreboard for virtually the entire match, as the scores at each stage demonstrate. The only occasion on which David Núñez’s disciples moved ahead was almost at the final whistle, enabling them to secure victory. The first half ended in Florida’s favour, but the red and whites’ spirit, courage and defensive discipline meant that they never stopped believing in a comeback. Restricting this generation of Florida youngsters to seven goals is something very few teams can achieve. The finale was not for the faint-hearted: with the score tied at 22 and following a red-and-white timeout with three seconds remaining, the red and whites’ top scorer, Pablo del Rincón, scored with a supported shot defended by three players, beating Spanish youth international goalkeeper Vicente de Diego, who could do nothing to stop it. This title ends a drought that had lasted since 1992, when BM Puerto Sagunto were crowned Junior Champions of the Valencian Community in Segorbe. Since then, several second- and third-place finishes for youth teams had been the red and whites’ best achievements. In addition to the title already secured this season, they are still competing for two more, as the cadet and youth finals take place next Sunday, with Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto teams also having qualified.   Match technical details ILE SPAIN FLORIDA (22): R. Pérez (1), Vicente De Diego, Alberto Hernández (2), Diego Montes (2), José F. Romo (5), Javier Bujeda (2), José A. Caballero, Luis M. Carrasco, Lluís Fos (3), Guzmán Lázaro (3), José I. Balaguer, Sime Llicer (4), Guillermo López, Marc Novella. FERTIBERIA BM. PUERTO SAGUNTO (23): Víctor Berenguel, Adrian Porras, Ángel Pérez, Jorge Ballester, Vicente Sánchez (4), Gabriel Sánchez (1), José Mª. Piro (2), Adrià Galán, Sergio Berrocal, Hermes Aznar, Luis Arnau, Pablo Del Rincón (9), Álvaro Huguet, Alejandro Alfonso (1), Pablo Granero and Ángel López (6) Referees: Ms Tania Rodríguez and Mr Gabriel López. Rubén Pérez, José I. Balaguer (2) and Marc Novella, of FLORIDA, were excluded; as were Hermes Aznar (2), Luis Arnau, Pablo Del Rincón and Alejandro Alfonso, of FERTIBERIA. Score at five-minute intervals: 2–2, 6–4, 9–7, 10–7, 12–9, 15–10 Half-time; 17–14, 17–15, 20–16, 20–18, 21–20, 22–23 Full-time. Venue: ONDA Municipal Pavilion (Castellón); 400 spectators, including the Marea Rojiblanca supporters’ club Match image galleries Club.Pepa Conesa FBMCV.Juanjo LLorens

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.