Pre-season ends in the best possible way

Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto brought the 2026–2027 pre-season to a close with a comfortable 36–27 victory in a new Valencian Community derby against Horneo EÓN Alicante, in a match played from 20:00 at the Port de Sagunt Pavilion.

The match began at a fast pace. Antonio Capitán scored the first goal on the break, which Adrián Sánchez immediately answered after a quick centre throw. The latter then put his side ahead for the first time in the opening two minutes by converting a seven-metre throw, making it 1–2.

Despite numerous turnovers by their back-court players in attack, the red-and-whites remained in the contest, with the scores level at 3–3 in the seventh minute. Thanks to saves from Juani Villarreal and a penalty converted by Arnau Fernández, the home side regained the initiative (4–3, 9th minute).

The two-minute suspension suffered by Carles Asensio did not affect the Alicante side at all, as the scores remained level on the scoreboard. The second consecutive suspension, this time for Pepe Oliver, was taken advantage of by the home side, who established a new two-goal advantage (7–5) after the halfway point of the first half.

For a large part of the first half, all the home side’s goals came from an extremely fired-up Arnau Fernández. At the other end of the court, the standout player was Daniel Reinante, with a high conversion rate from the left wing.

The red-and-white side’s advantage continued to grow to +3 (11–8) and +4 (12–8), even when they were down a player following Nicolàs Zungri’s suspension in the 22nd minute. A minute later, Roi Sánchez called a timeout. The Vigo coach switched to a 5:1 defence, with Fabio Teixeira playing at the advanced position.

The opponents’ tactical change caused no problems for Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto’s attacks, as they continued to find the net with considerable ease. Lautaro Robledo’s goals from the right wing helped reduce the deficit slightly, and the teams went into half-time with the score at 17–14.

Horneo EÓN Alicante made use of the seconds of numerical superiority carried over from the first thirty minutes to produce an early 0–2 run after the restart and move within one goal at 17–16. Sergio Mallo’s players responded while down a player, establishing two new maximum advantages of +5 (22–17) and +6 (23–17).

With numerical superiority following Pepe Oliver’s second suspension at the other end of the 40×20-metre court, Gonzalo Pérez missed a shot from virtually one goal to the other. Miguel Llorens, however, made no mistake, and the gap was already seven goals at 24–17. The deficit forced Roi Sánchez to stop the match.

The timeout did not have the desired effect on the visitors, as the advantage reached +9 (26–17) after the 40th minute of the match. The visiting side remained stuck on 17 goals for several minutes, largely because of their opponents’ improved defensive performance, Dani Martínez’s outstanding contribution in goal and the defensive presence of academy player Héctor Cantón, playing in the advanced position of the 5:1.

Carles Asensio and Miguel Llorens came close to being disqualified. Added to the evening’s already bad news of Juan Carlos Sempere’s injury was Gabriel Navarro’s injury too. The club’s academy was represented in the final ten minutes by Rodrigo Alba and the aforementioned Héctor Cantón, who scored one and two goals respectively.

In desperation, the home side had to attack against a 4:2 defence, almost a mixed defence, focused on Arnau Fernández and Alberto Serradilla. This led to maximum advantages of +10 (35–25) and +11 (36–25). The final score was slightly reduced to 36–27.

Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto’s next fixture will be their official competitive debut. They will return to the Liga NEXUS ENERGÍA ASOBAL next Sunday, the 13th, at 12:00, against ABANCA Ademar León at the Port de Sagunt Pavilion.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.