Meritorious victory in A Coruña to bid farewell to 2025

Fertiberia Balonmano Puerto Sagunto won 24–25 away to Attica 21 Hotels OAR Coruña in a match corresponding to the fifteenth round of the Men's División de Honor Plata.

Arnau Fernández stood out in the visiting starting seven in the centre of the defensive zone because of Antonio Capitán's absence. The home side's first three goals came from their star, Álex Chan, who made it 3–1 in the opening three minutes. Two defensive recoveries followed by counter-attacks finished by Carlos Martín quickly turned the score around for the red-and-whites, who led 3–4 in the sixth minute.

The match's first suspension came in the eighth minute for Luis Horcajada. Nicolás Zungri had a chance to increase the visitors' lead with a shot at an empty net, but missed and the score was level again. Another suspension, this time for Álex Chan, allowed the Puerto Sagunto side to put together a 1–2 run and regain the lead. Despite this, they still failed to convert the chances needed to reach +2. The defence, however, was working well, keeping the Coruña side stuck on ten goals, which prompted their first time-out in the 20th minute.

The defences prevailed and, this time, it was the Valencians who went more than four minutes without scoring, remaining on eleven goals. Dani Martínez came on in goal to replace Juani Villarreal. The first +2 arrived in the 28th minute at 11–13. The Galicians tried a seven-against-six positional attack, but without success. The half-time score was 12–15.

The poor restart by the Valencian side was not exploited by the home team because of their constant errors. The red-and-whites' first suspension went to Alex Pozzer in the 33rd minute, although Diogo Freitas was also suspended in the next action. Arnau Fernández had a counter-attack opportunity to secure the maximum +4 lead, but Mile Mijuskovic thwarted him. As a few minutes earlier, Gonzalo Pérez was suspended, and immediately afterwards Diogo Freitas received another suspension, his second of the match.

Nicolás Zungri's goals allowed the visitors to restore their +3 lead (19–22), which they held until the 46th minute. They again had opportunities to extend the lead to +4, but were not rewarded. Arnau Fernández's suspension and the opponents' approach to within one goal led Toni Malla to call a time-out after the 50th minute.

After several minutes, Diogo Freitas had the ball at pivot to level the match, but Dani Martínez prevented it with an excellent save. Freitas himself was shown a red card in the 52nd minute after accumulating three two-minute suspensions. The match was completely level in the 53rd minute (23–23). Álex Malid's suspension with four minutes remaining made the visitors' task easier. Toni Malla called his final time-out with 46 seconds remaining, but the outcome was not as hoped. Attica 21 Hotels OAR Coruña had possession to snatch a point in the final play through a quick transition, but Alberto Serradilla recovered the ball, leaving the final score at 24–25.

In this way, Fertiberia Balonmano Puerto Sagunto bid farewell to 2025, before the Christmas break, as the provisional second-placed side in the division with 22 points, awaiting the outcome of tomorrow's match between Blendio Sinfín and UBU San Pablo Burgos 2031, which will bring the round to a close from 12:30 at the Pabellón Polideportivo Exterior de La Albericia.

The next fixture will not come until Saturday 17 January, when the red-and-whites face the leaders, Cajasol Sevilla BM Proin, at the Centro Deportivo El Paraguas from 20:30, in what will be the first match of the competition's second half.

It should be remembered that the team have a game in hand following the postponement of the previous round's match against Balonmano Servigroup Benidorm because of the red weather alert issued by AEMET. As a result, in January they will depend on themselves to regain top spot.

MATCH DETAILS:

Attica 21 Hotels OAR Coruña (24): Diogo Freitas (-), Alberto Roldán (7), Álex Chan (7), Beltrán Bedia (-), Gabriel Navarro (2), Juanka Ortiz (-), Luis Horcajada (2), Diego Martínez (2), Álex Malid (-), Pepe Mora (2), Luisma de Goya (-), Alejandro Conde (-), Mile Mijuskovic (-), Israel Marín (-), Sergio Torío (2), Gael Blanco (-).

Fertiberia Balonmano Puerto Sagunto (25): Juani Villarreal (-), Olivares (-), Francisco Ruiz (-), Jakob Pelko (1), Dani Martínez (-), Pozzer (2), Barceló (-), Arnau Fernández (3), Gonzalo (1), David García (1), Matheus de Novais (2), Serradilla (6), Zungri (4), Adrián Blasco (-), Carlos Martín (5), Teixidor (-).

Referees: Irene Santos López and Kalina Andreeva Tsankova.

Suspensions: Álex Chan, Luis Horcajada, Álex Malid, Jakob Pelko, Alex Pozzer, Arnau Fernández and Gonzalo Pérez received two-minute suspensions; Fernando González was shown a yellow card and Diogo Freitas a red card after three two-minute suspensions.

Scoring sequence: 3–2, 6–6, 9–9, 10–11, 11–12, 12–15 (half-time); 14–17, 16–19, 19–21, 20–22, 23–24 and 24–25 (full-time).

Notes: Match from the 15th round of the Men's División de Honor Plata, played at the Pabellón San Francisco Javier.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.