A great second half takes us into a share of top spot

Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto overcame a poor first half to secure a 29-24 victory against Trasmapi HC Eivissa at the Port de Sagunt Pavilion, in a match that brought the 26th round of the División de Honor Plata to a close.

The early 2-0 lead earned by the home side thanks to a couple of saves from Dani Martínez was immediately cancelled out by the Ibiza team, who restored parity on the scoreboard. The hosts' recurring one-goal leads came from Antonio Capitán's transitions, with him already having scored three goals in the opening eight minutes. A two-minute suspension for Capitán himself was not taken advantage of by the visitors, and Fertiberia opened up a gap again at 7-5. In the 12th minute, recent signing Julen Urruzola made his debut.

The island side tried attacking with seven against six, a tactical innovation that did not pay off, as the Valencians' next biggest lead came in the 16th minute at 10-7. The 5:1 defence, by contrast, worked for the visitors, who managed to level the match again in the 22nd minute (11-11). The timeout called by Eugenio Tilves in the 23rd minute had the desired effect, and his players moved ahead for the first time (11-12). In fact, they went into half-time with their biggest lead so far: 12-15.

A 3-0 run in the first six minutes after the restart brought the Valencians fully back into the match. Arnau Fernández was shown a straight red card in the 33rd minute. The home defence raised its game and, during that spell, Trasmapi HC Eivissa managed to score only once. When he saw his opponents turn the score around at 17-16, Eugenio Tilves was forced to stop the match in the 37th minute. A numerical advantage allowed the hosts to extend their lead to +4 (20-16) and subsequently to +5 (21-16).

The visitors ran out of timeouts in the 42nd minute, watching their chances of earning points slip away. A double save from Juani Villarreal, once the second half had passed its midway point, halted the Ibiza side's attempted comeback. Injuries to Mauricio Basualdo and Fernando González made their task even more difficult. Antonio Capitán, outstanding at both ends of the court, finally put the match beyond doubt in the closing minutes.

With this victory, Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto move level on 41 points at the top of the table with Cajasol Sevilla BM Proin, although the Seville side retain top spot by virtue of having the better head-to-head record. In addition, these two points mathematically guarantee the Valencian side at least a place in the promotion play-off phase for the Liga Nexus Energía ASOBAL.

The next fixture will be away to Barça Atlètic this coming Saturday, starting at 17:00 at the Joan Gamper Sports City.

MATCH DETAILS:

Fertiberia Balonmano Puerto Sagunto (29): Juani Villarreal (1), Olivares (1), Paco Ruiz (-), Jakob Pelko (1), Dani Martínez (1), Pozzer (1), Arnau Fernández (-), Julen Urruzola (-), Gonzalo (1), David García (1), Matheus de Novais (6), Serradilla (1), Capitán (10), Zungri (1), Carlos Martín (3), Teixidor (1).

Trasmapi HC Eivissa (24): Fernando González (4), Joel Pararols (-), Biel Valera (3), Karlos Rubio (5), Antonio Montes (-), Diego Rueda (2), Jorge Broto (-), Santiago Canepa (2), Daniel Bernárdez (3), Eduardo Pla (-), Mauricio Basualdo (3), Marc Vega (1), Eduardo Ortíz (1), David Martínez ().

Officials: Mikel Gayoso Jiménez and Eder Gómez Eguiluz.

Suspensions: Arnau Fernández, Julen Urruzola, Gonzalo Pérez, Antonio Capitán (2), Joel Pararols, Santi Canepa and Eduardo Pla (2) received two-minute suspensions, while Arnau Fernández was shown a straight red card.

Scores by period: 3-2, 6-5, 9-7, 11-9, 11-12, 12-15 (half-time); 14-15, 18-16, 21-18, 23-20, 25-22 and 29-24 (full-time).

Match notes: Match from the 26th round of the División de Honor Plata, played at the Port de Sagunt Pavilion in front of approximately 1,400 spectators. Before the match began, the falleras mayores of Falla Palleter performed the ceremonial throw-in.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.