A great defensive display gives us two hugely important points

Fertiberia Balonmano Puerto Sagunto continue to turn every match played at the Port de Sagunt Pavilion into a victory, after clearly beating Club Cisne Colegio Los Sauces 29–22 on matchday six of the División de Honor Plata.

The home side’s starting seven featured three main changes: Juani Villarreal, Alex Pozzer and Gonzalo Pérez. Before the third minute, the first two-minute suspension was awarded to Nicolás Zungri. The Pontevedra side’s goals came through their right winger, Diego López, who scored three of his team’s first four goals. Both defences came into action, stopping the attacks. Despite another suspension, this time for Antonio Capitán, the home side managed a favourable 1–0 spell while short-handed.

The scoreboard consistently showed either a one-goal advantage for the Valencians or a draw until around the 20-minute mark, when the gap rose to +3 (10–7) and Marcos Otero called the match’s first time-out. The home defence grew stronger as the minutes passed, leaving the Galicians stuck on seven goals. The attacking contribution from the right side, with Nicolás Zungri and Gonzalo Pérez, took the score to 13–7 in the 22nd minute. Another two-minute suspension, specifically for David García, and a poor spell in attack forced Toni Malla to stop the game after the visitors threatened to come back (14–11). Half-time arrived with the score at 15–12.

Club Cisne Colegio Los Sauces’ mistakes after emerging from the dressing room, together with the first two-minute suspension for their player Daniel Virulegio, restored the +5 lead at 18–13. Abián Rodríguez, in goal, still kept the Galicians’ hopes of a comeback alive. Fertiberia Balonmano Puerto Sagunto produced more second-half transitions thanks to an energised Arnau Fernández. Goalkeeper Juani Villarreal was equally fired up, determined to give his opponents no chance. After 45 minutes, the score was 22–16.

The biggest lead came at +7 (26–19), prompting Marcos Otero’s final time-out. The suspensions for Arnau Fernández and Francisco Ruiz in the same minute led Toni Malla to call two time-outs within two minutes to prepare for being two players down. Manuel Veintimilla, the reserve team’s young right winger, had the chance to make his first-team debut. The bad news, meanwhile, concerned Gonzalo Pérez and Nicolás Zungri, who had to leave the 40×20 court with physical discomfort. The match finally ended 29–22.

With these two points, taking their total to eight in the overall standings, the red-and-whites remain in contention for direct promotion and play-off places for the Liga NEXUS Energía Asobal. Next Sunday the 26th, the team will face UBU San Pablo Burgos from 12:00, in a match that will conclude matchday seven and bring an end to an October featuring as many as three away trips.

MATCH DETAILS: 

Fertiberia Balonmano Puerto Sagunto (29): Juani Villarreal (-), Paco Ruiz (-), Dani Martínez (-), Pozzer (1), Veintimilla (-), Arnau Fernández (2), Gonzalo (3), David García (1), Matheus de Novais (5), Serradilla (4), Capitán (3), Zungri (6), Carlos Martín (2), Teixidor (2).

Club Cisne Colegio Los Sauces (22): Marko Ribic (1), Xoan Fernández (5), Guilherme Linares (1), Manuel Lorenzo (-), Iago Costas (-), Iván Calvo (-), Abián Rodríguez (-), Yago López (4), Diego López (5), Martín Santos (-), Daniel Virulegio (-), João Ferreira (5), Alejandro López (1), Roney Franzini (-).

Referees: Óscar García Camino and Alfredo Arcos Adeva.

Suspensions: David García twice; Francisco Ruiz, Arnau Fernández, Antonio Capitán, Nicolás Zungri and Daniel Virulegio for two minutes, and Toni Malla with a yellow card.

Scoring sequence: 2–2, 5–4, 7–7, 11–7, 14–9, 15–12 (half-time); 17–13, 19–14, 21–16, 24–19, 26–19 and 29–22 (full-time).

Attendance: Matchday-one fixture in the División de Honor Plata Masculina, played at the Port de Sagunt Pavilion in front of approximately 1,400 spectators.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.