Image: Sergio Betancort
Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote has subscribed to suffering this season and on Saturday afternoon achieved another agonizing victory against Cajasur Córdoba de Balonmano, in a match in which the Andalusians only gave in in the final stretch of the match. San José Obrero was not comfortable on the playing field, playing a very cold first half and playing in bursts in the second half. The good saves of goalkeeper Antonio Carreño and the goals scored by Pedro Noda were enough to leave the three points in Lanzarote and allow Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote to be placed as the sole leader of the First National Men's Handball League.
The match initially scheduled at the Titerroy Municipal Pavilion had to be moved to the Ciudad Deportiva Lanzarote. The playing field of Titerroy was wet after the rains that fell throughout the weekend, moving to the Ciudad Deportiva to play the match of the tenth day. In addition, the refereeing couple formed by María Fernando Espino and David Déniz could not travel to Lanzarote as all inter-island flights were canceled due to the strong wind. Andrés Martín and Diego Pastoriza were in charge of directing the match in the arbitration aspect.
Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote struggled to get into the game in the first part of the match, with Córdoba de Balonmano in charge of taking the initiative. The Cordobans had many options in attack, with the work carried out by goalkeeper Antonio Carreño being fundamental in this first part, preventing the differences from being greater. San José Obrero recovered and in the middle of the first half managed to get ahead on the scoreboard, causing the first timeout of the visiting coach.
The 5:1 defense of Córdoba de Balonmano was choking Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote, not developing a very fluid attack game. A 0-2 partial in favor of Córdoba put the tie back on the scoreboard and with five minutes left until halftime, Jesús Casanova asked for the first timeout of the match. Córdoba de Balonmano took the lead on the scoreboard with a goal from José Roldán and when playing in numerical inferiority. At halftime, the score was 9 to 10 in favor of the visitors.
The game of Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote did not improve excessively at the beginning of the second half. Added to this was the double exclusion suffered by Nelson Espino and Juan Jesús Romero, which allowed Córdoba to increase the differences. The Cordobans presented themselves in Lanzarote with a very diminished team, having only ten players and having two injured players on the bench to complete the call-up. At no time did Córdoba give the sensation of diminishing its physical power and continued to put the Lanzarote team in trouble.
A goal from Nelson Espino, one of the few who had clear ideas in attack, and a goal from Pedro Noda placed the tie at 16 goals in the eleventh minute of the second half. Córdoba de Balonmano reacted and achieved a 0-2 partial, to return to place themselves with two goals of difference on the scoreboard. Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote was always chasing on the scoreboard in this second half, although they were once again ahead on the scoreboard with a 3-0 partial.
With six minutes left until the end of the match, Jesús Casanova asked for a timeout again, seeing that his team was not able to get into the match and with Córdoba de Balonmano with a one-goal advantage (22-23). The timeout was fundamental and Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote displayed an overwhelming game in the final stretch of the match. Pedro Noda with two goals from the right wing and a goal at the culmination of a counterattack, was in charge of putting the local team with two goals of difference.
Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote did not finish closing the match in the final stretch, at which time Antonio Carreño appeared again under the sticks to make saves of authentic merit and maintain the intact advantage in favor of the locals. With the score of 26 to 24, the match came to an end, with Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote adding another important victory.
Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote is placed as the sole leader of group F of the First National Men's Handball League, taking advantage of the fact that Cátedra 70 could not play its match against Luna Balonmano Tenerife. In the next match, San José Obrero faces Balonmano Alarcos Ciudad Real, a rival that occupies the second place in the standings and has one point less than Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote. Without a doubt, the match of the day and two very important points at stake to stay at the top of the standings.
Technical Sheet
Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote (26): Antonio Carreño, Javi Ortigosa (1), Nelson Espino (10), Ruymán López, Pedro Noda (6), Ángel Bonilla (3) and Marko Dzokic (5) –initial team- Sergio Bonilla, Luis Morín, Juan Jesús Romero, Juan Carlos García, Agustín Robert (1), Cristian Luján, Joel Peraza, Alejandro Rodríguez and Javier Tavío
Córdoba de Balonmano (24): Ramón Fuentes, Marco Ceballos (4), Francisco Grueso (4), Luis Muñiz (2), Alejandro Becerra (1), Aitor Gómez (2) and Samuel Gómez (7) –initial team- Alberto Lara, Juan José Ortega, José Padilla, José Enrique Molinero and José Roldán (4)
Partials every 5 minutes: 1-1, 4-3, 5-4, 7-5, 8-8, 9-10 (break) 11-13, 14-16, 18-18, 21-21, 23-23, 26-24 (final)
Referees: Andrés Martín and Diego Pastoriza, from the Canary Islands Committee. They excluded Pedro Noda (2), Juan Jesús Romero (2), Marko Dzokic (2), Ruymán López (1) and Nelson Espino (1) for Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote and Luis Muñiz (2) and Francisco Grueso (1) for Córdoba de Balonmano.
Incidents: Ciudad Deportiva Lanzarote, about 200 spectators. Match corresponding to the 10th day of group F of the First National Men's Handball League. The match had to be changed from pavilion, as the playing field of the Titerroy Municipal Pavilion was wet due to the rains that fell throughout the weekend.
