We fell just short of earning points

Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto suffered a narrow 29–28 defeat away to Cajasol Sevilla BM Proin at the Centro Deportivo Amate, in a match corresponding to the eighth round of the Liga NEXUS ENERGÍA ASOBAL. They were 18–12 down at half-time, but had chances to earn points right until the end.

The match began with both teams scoring in their first positional attacks, thanks to Uríos from the pivot for the home side and Gabriel Navarro with a nine-metre long-range effort. Arnau Fernández replied from the penalty spot to Chema Márquez’s goal to keep the scores level at 2–2 during the opening two minutes.

Two goals from David Martínez and another from Alberto Ruiz, after a feint and penetration, gave the home side two new maximum leads of +2 (4–2) and +3 (5–2) in the sixth and seventh minutes respectively. The Sevilla side had the ball to extend their lead to four goals, but Martín de Bolaños stole possession.

Capitán, scoring into an empty net after Uríos’s exclusion, ended his team-mates’ scoring drought, during which they had remained stuck on two goals for more than seven minutes. The Andalusian side managed to withstand the numerical disadvantage with a 2–2 spell, finding gaps in the central area of the opposition defence (7–4, 10th minute).

After Salinas made it 8–4, Sergio Mallo opted to call his first time-out in the 13th minute. The break had no effect, as in the next two plays his players committed an attacking foul and conceded a goal almost immediately. A minute later, the home side established a new maximum lead with the score at 9–4.

David Martínez remained unstoppable from the left wing, and Dani Martínez, who replaced Villarreal from the bench, was also unable to stop any of his attempts. The player who did manage to do so, on several occasions, was Terçariol at the other end, allowing the Sevilla side to reach a six-goal lead at 12–6 in the 17th minute.

The second unit, with Matheus de Novais and Romanillos in attack and Dani Martínez in goal, tried to reduce the deficit and succeeded, bringing the score to 14–10 in the 23rd minute. However, it proved to be an illusion, as a minute later Antonio García’s men took advantage of the Valencians’ turnovers to launch a counter-attack (16–10, 24th minute).

A time-out called by the latter had an immediate effect, with Terçariol making saves in goal to make it 18–11 in the 27th minute. In the final minute of the first half, Olba was excluded for an incorrectly made substitution. Capitán scored in the final play to leave the half-time score at 18–12.

Although they began the second half with one fewer player for a few seconds, the Puerto Sagunto side started it better than they had finished the first. Gabriel Navarro and Serradilla made it 18–14. The 6:0 defence also improved compared with what had been seen in the opening 30 minutes, and it took four minutes for the opponents to score their first goal.

A period of exchanged goals followed, clearly favouring Cajasol Sevilla BM Proin’s interests (23–18, 40th minute). Seeing their chances of earning points slipping away, Sergio Mallo called his second time-out in the 41st minute with the score at 24–18. The score remained unchanged for a couple of minutes, until Martín de Bolaños scored on a counter-attack (24–19, 43rd minute).

Pelko scored after a second wave of attack and, on this occasion, Antonio García stopped the match, as he did not want any scares with the scoreboard showing 24–20 with less than 13 minutes remaining. Sergio Mallo’s tactics came into play with a new approach: attacking with four back-court players and no pivot.

Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto had the opportunity to fully join the fight for the points, but Martín de Bolaños missed and Morales, from the right wing, restored the lead to +4 (25–21) shortly after the midway point of the second half. The action was also accompanied by Capitán’s exclusion.

The numerical disadvantage did not affect the Valencian side, and the score during those two minutes favoured them. A save with Dani Martínez’s foot and a goal from Capitán after the passive-play warning opened up a new match with 12 minutes remaining at 25–23. Dani Martínez and, subsequently, Pelko ensured that the red-and-whites moved to within one goal after many minutes (26–25, 52nd minute).

Uríos scored from the pivot, but in the next action he could do nothing to stop Matheus de Novais and received both a two-minute suspension and a goal against. The spell during the two minutes with an extra player did not go as expected. Capitán was unable to score with his second attempt to shoot on the final pass because the officials called passive play (29–27, 57th minute).

With just over a minute remaining, Sergio Mallo’s side did not make the best decisions in attack and Pelko missed. Gabriel Navarro did not, keeping his team-mates alive. However, Dani Martínez, who had saved the final shot to give his side the last possession, made a mistake with the pass and the final score was 29–28.

Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto’s next fixture, after the international break beginning tomorrow, will be at home to Irudek Bidasoa Irún on Saturday 14 November at the Port de Sagunt Pavilion, from 19:00, in the ninth round of the competition.

MATCH DETAILS:

29 – Cajasol Sevilla BM Proin (18+11): Terçariol (GK), Alfonso Rodríguez (1, 1 pen.), Salinas (2), Uríos (3), Alberto Ruiz (2), Chema Márquez (2) and David Martínez (4) — starting seven —; Gerard Román (2), Pau López (2), Kilian Ramírez (reserve GK), Tito Díaz (5), Morales (2), Conchillo (1), Tioumentsev, Pablo Sánchez and Víctor Deco (3).

28 – Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto (12+16): Villarreal, Gonzalo Pérez (1), Gabriel Navarro (4), Capitán (4), Llorens, Arnau Fernández (5, 3 pen.) and Martín de Bolaños (3) — starting seven —; Olivares, Olba, Pelko (3), Dani Martínez (reserve GK), Guille Soler, Matheus de Novais (2), Serradilla (3), Romanillos (2) and Zungri (1).

Referees: Cristian Da Silva Barbadaes and Luis Colmenero Guillén (Castile and León Referees’ Committee). They excluded the home player Uríos (2) and the visiting players Capitán (2) and Olba.

Score every five minutes: 3–2, 6–3, 9–5, 13–7, 16–10, 18–12 (half-time); 19–14, 22–17, 24–21, 26–23, 28–27 and 29–28 (full-time).

Attendance and notes: Match from the eighth round of the Liga NEXUS ENERGÍA ASOBAL, played at the Centro Deportivo Amate in front of approximately 1,000 spectators.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.