Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto Under-18s triumph again

Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto's Under-18s beat Asesoria Prieto & Tur de Eivissa 38–17 in their second match of Sector G of the Spanish Under-18 Championship.

They had to win by more than 17 goals so that a draw against UES Sarriá tomorrow in the final round would enable them to make BM Puerto Sagunto history. They achieved it in emphatic fashion, and now this outstanding generation of 1998, supported by two players born in 1999 and three from 2000, are 60 minutes away from something the Valencian club has pursued for a long time. Their geographical proximity to Catalonia has always condemned the red-and-whites to face the two powerhouses of Spanish youth handball, FC Barcelona and Granollers, but the title of champions means the Ovni can host a celebration tomorrow against an exceptionally tough opponent, UES Sarriá, who also see glory within reach.

Today's match was a necessary formality. After the first round, it was clear who the group's leading sides were, and Sarriá's emphatic win over the Andalusians from Maracena meant that the Valencians not only had to win but had to do so convincingly if they wanted to retain the goal difference advantage in the event of a draw tomorrow.

In terms of how the match unfolded, the contest remained even for ten minutes, which was how long Fertiberia took to adjust their defensive duels. From that point on, the lead continued to grow, supported by the key ingredient needed to score heavily: running hard on the counter-attack, something that only happens if you win the ball and stop the opposition, as they did.

The course of the match allowed Toni Sarío to rotate his players, and only the injury to Joel, who had been immense, put a dampener on the home side's joy.

Tomorrow at 12:30, the final match, which has become a grand final, with two great teams facing a monumental challenge.

Asesoria Prieto & Tur HC Eivissa: Boneo, Costo (8), Prieto, Sanchez, Alonso, Cortes, Martin, Torres, Nuñez (6), Navarro (2), Lacarra (1), Noles, Sevilla and Romero.

Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto: Conca, Palacios and Olivares. Perales (1), Oscar (3), Cesar (3), Nuñez (3), Marcos (5), Joel (6), Cubero (3), Alvaro (3), Sanchez (2), Bensach, Cebrián (2), Machí (1) and Sarío (6).

Officials: Bioxade and Escoda (Catalonia). Lacarra was excluded for Eivissa, while César, Bemsach and Sarío were excluded for Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto.

Score at five-minute intervals: (Fertiberia were the away side according to the draw schedule)

3–4, 4–6, 6–11, 6–15, 7–18, 11–22. Half-time. 12–24, 13–26, 14–29, 15–32, 16–36, 17–38. Full-time.

Ovni Pavilion. 500 spectators.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.