Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto Under-18s fail to get going

Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto's Under-18s lost 28–22 to the hosts in the second Group 2 match of the Spanish Under-18 Championship Final Phase.

It seems as though the young side's competition ended with their win over Sarrià in the qualifying group that took them among Spain's top eight, as the same poor patterns they showed yesterday against Seville side BM Montequinto have become entrenched in this top-eight phase for the red-and-whites. Yesterday's poor performance proved a burden they were unable to overcome in order to rise to the occasion on the second matchday.

The match began with a good level of play from the red-and-whites, who found clear shooting opportunities but came up against Adrián Torres in the Madrid side's goal, an insurmountable wall for the young red-and-whites. From then on, the home side established the first sizeable leads, which they never relinquished. Once the opening fifteen minutes had elapsed, the rest of the match was a stroll for Alcobendas, although a small reaction at the end of the first half reduced the deficit to 14–9 and offered a glimmer of hope.

It was not to be, as Fertiberia continued at an extremely low ebb, as if they had already given up any chance of winning.

Tomorrow is the final match, with the team eliminated from the semi-finals, against the group's big guns, Granollers. We hope the team can show their true ability, which we have not seen at any point in the first two matches.

Technical Details:

BM Alcobendas: Torres. Sanchez, Daniel (2), Carmona (2), Mikel (3), Nuñez (9), Del Pozo, Ortega (4), Arenal, Sanz (3), Echevarria (4), VElazquez, Crespo, Gutierrez, Nevado (9) and Calvo.

Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto: Conca, Palacios, Olivares. Guillermo (2), Aguilella (4), Machi, Cebrian (2), Alvaro, Bensach, Sanchez, Oscar (2), Cesar, Dobon (1), Sario (6), Perales (2) and Cubero (2).

Referees: Espadas and Raez (Castilla-La Mancha). Daniel, Echevarria and Velazquez were excluded for Alcobendas, and Bensach (2), Sanchez and Dobon for Fertiberia.

Los Sueños Pavilion, Alcobendas. 150 spectators.

Score at five-minute intervals: 3–1, 7–2, 8–4, 10–7, 15–7, 14–9. Half-time. 18–11, 21–13, 22–14, 25–16, 26–19, 28–22.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.