We return to the elite in style

Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto return to the Liga NEXUS ENERGÍA ASOBAL in the best possible way in the year of their 75th anniversary. They did so by beating ABANCA Ademar León practically on the buzzer, 39-38, on the opening matchday of the competition, held at the Pabellón Port de Sagunt from 12:00.

The match began with Nicolás Zungri being shown a two-minute suspension during the visitors’ first positional attack. Thanks to their numerical advantage, the León side took the lead in the second minute after finding their pivot Rodrigo Benites unmarked in the central area of the red-and-white defence.

After several minutes of exchanging goals, the home side raised their defensive performance, allowing them to launch two consecutive counter-attacks, converted by Gonzalo Pérez and Antonio Capitán to put their team ahead for the first time, making it 5-3 in the sixth minute.

That two-goal advantage increased to three barely a minute later, thanks to the accuracy of the home side’s backcourt, giving them a new maximum lead (7-5, 8th min.). Arnau Fernández had a seven-metre throw to extend the gap to four goals, but his effort struck the woodwork.

Saves from Dani Martínez in goal and quick transitions, with Antonio Capitán finishing after rapid centre restarts, put the +4 (11-7) on the scoreboard in the 15th minute. That was when the first time-out of the match was called by Luis Puertas, but it did not have the desired effect, as the gap immediately grew to +5 (12-7).

A couple of errors in positional attack by the home side and the rotation of the Castile and León team reduced the deficit to two goals (13-11), forcing Sergio Mallo to stop the match in the 20th minute. His time-out was successful, producing a rapid 2-0 run that restored the +4 (15-11) in the 20th minute.

Despite being a player down because of Lindqvist’s suspension, ABANCA Ademar León moved to within one goal (16-15, 23rd min.). Saves from Marcos García, who replaced Álvaro Méndez in goal, and the playmaking of centre-back Miñambres brought the scores level again (16-16) in the 25th minute.

A minute later, Luis Puertas’ players regained the initiative (17-20) with two goals into an empty net, prompted by their opponents’ numerical disadvantage following Miguel Llorens’ suspension. A supported shot from Juan Castro on the buzzer made the half-time score 18-21.

The visitors’ new maximum lead (19-23) after the restart prompted a reaction from Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto, who moved to within one (23-24) in the 35th minute, largely because of Juani Villarreal’s introduction and goals from the left wing by an inspired Carlos Martín.

The match was finely balanced with just over twenty minutes remaining (25-26). During this spell, Juan Castro and Gonzalo Pérez Arce took centre stage to restore a cushion for their side at 26-29. The red-and-whites never lost touch with the match.

Álvaro Pérez improved his save percentage compared with the first thirty minutes and was responsible for stopping every one of the Valencians’ attempts to come back. With the score at 27-30 in the 46th minute, Sergio Mallo called a time-out to try to keep his team in the fight for the points.

When Alberto Martín was suspended with thirteen minutes remaining, the red-and-white side had another opportunity to reduce the deficit, but the run was not as expected. The Castile and León side managed the repeated +3 leads throughout the second half.

The new aggressive home defence and two consecutive second-wave goals from Jakob Pelko on the right wing made it 35-36 in the 55th minute. Gabriel Navarro’s driving finish brought the match level for the first time in a minute (38-38, 59th min.).

Luis Puertas stopped the game to prepare his players’ final attacking move, which ended unfavourably, as Dani Martínez got a foot to Edu Fernández’s shot, a save that would later prove decisive. Twenty-three seconds remained, and this time it was the home side who called the time-out.

The move prepared by the Vigo coach worked, with Carlos Martín scoring the winning goal after cutting in from the left wing and receiving the ball completely unmarked. Juan Castro tried desperately, but his shot went wide over the crossbar. The final score was 39-38.

Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto’s next fixture will again be at the Pabellón Port de Sagunt, where they will host Fraikin BM Granollers on the second matchday of the competition, with the date and time yet to be confirmed.

MATCH DETAILS:

Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto (39): Juani Villarreal, Carlos Martín (8), Olivares (2), Gabriel Navarro (3), Jakob Pelko (5), Dani Martínez, Arnau Fernández (2), Miguel Llorens, Gonzalo (1), Guille Soler, Serradilla (1), Capitán (10), Héctor Cantón, Manzano (1), Romanillos (1), Zungri (5).

ABANCA Ademar León (38): Lindqvist (1), Miñambres (5), Casqueiro (5), Wasiak, Rubén Rozada, Álvaro Pérez, Álvaro Duarte, Óscar Díez, Gonzalo Pérez Arce (7), Raúl García, Álex Lodos (2), Juan Castro (7), Alberto Martín (1), Edu Fernández (4), Rodrigo Benites (6), Marcos García.

Referees: Albert Pérez Acedo and Daniel Toro Ponce.

Scores by period: 3-3, 8-5, 12-7, 13-11, 15-15, 18-21 (half-time); 25-27, 25-27, 27-29, 30-32, 34-36 and 39-38 (full-time).

Attendance: Matchday 1 fixture of the Liga NEXUS ENERGÍA ASOBAL, played at the Pabellón Port de Sagunt in front of approximately 2,000 spectators.