On Saturday afternoon, CICAR Lanzarote Ciudad de Arrecife faced the penultimate match of the Women's Gold Honor Division, a match that began with the possibility of achieving promotion to the Guerreras Iberdrola League. To do so, the San José Obrero players needed a victory against Caja Rural Cleba, in a match in which they went from less to more, to end up winning by a clear 33 to 22.
The match did not start in the best way for CICAR Lanzarote Ciudad de Arrecife, being surpassed by the playing style of Caja Rural Cleba. The visitors made it 0-2 on the scoreboard with goals from Itahisa Castillo and Mónica Gutiérrez, displaying a fast game and taking advantage of the fact that the locals were not able to make a good defensive retreat.
Little by little, San José Obrero shook off the initial nerves of the match, leveling it with a 3-0 run with goals from Marilia Correia, Gema Trujillo and Keyla Hernández (6-6). They were not satisfied with that, increasing their pace of play and defensive intensity. Goals from Keyla Hernández (2) and Esther de Miguel made it 11-8, forcing the visiting coach to request a time-out.
The advantage in favor of the locals increased as the minutes passed, reaching a lead of six goals in this first half (19-13), with the public vibrating with the game their team was playing. The score at halftime was 19-14.
CICAR Lanzarote Ciudad de Arrecife sealed the match in the first minutes of the second half. Irene Sánchez put the lock on the goal, and Caja Rural Cleba took more than thirteen minutes to score their first goal. San José Obrero was increasing the advantage, until they had a maximum lead of eleven goals.
With the promotion in their pocket, the players of CICAR Lanzarote Ciudad de Arrecife enjoyed themselves on the court, those on the bench celebrated and the stands were infected with joy. CICAR Lanzarote Ciudad de Arrecife returns to the Guerreras Iberdrola League, returning to the elite of Spanish women's handball.
With the score of 33 to 22, the match came to an end, and the celebration on the court of the Municipal de Titerroy was in full swing, celebrating the promotion.
Technical Sheet
CICAR Lanzarote Ciudad de Arrecife (33): Ana Marín, Keyla Hernández (3), Melania Cabrera (1), Leticia Cobo (5), Gema Trujillo (8), Celia López and Marilia Correia (5) -starting team- Irene Sánchez, Lucía Chumillas, Beatriz Masseu (3), Esther de Miguel (3), Veronica Dvorakova, Thalyta Almeida (4), Thais Fermo (1), Miriam Páez and Lorena Montilla. Coach: David Betancort
Caja Rural Cleba (22): Marta Velasco, Mónica Gutiérrez (2), Aintzane García (3), Valeria de las Moras, Itahisa Castillo (5), Mireia Díaz and Cristina Viñuela (2) -starting team- Goretti Cacho, Carmen Fernández (3), Marta Fariza, Cecilia Colmenero (4), Alicia Larequi (4). Coach: Leoncio Álvarez
Partial scores every 5 minutes: 2-4, 6-6, 10-8, 13-9, 16-122, 19-14 (halftime) 21-14, 23-14, 25-15, 28-17, 30-20, 33-22 (final)
Referees: Enrique Pérez González and Luis Díaz-Flores Gómez-Calcerrada. They excluded Leticia Cobo (2), Keyla Hernández (1), Beatriz Masseu (1) and Marilia Correia (1) for CICAR Lanzarote Ciudad de Arrecife and Aintzane García (1), Itahisa Castillo (1) and Mireia Díaz (1) for Caja Rural Cleba.
Incidents: Titerroy Municipal Pavilion, about 500 spectators. Match corresponding to the 25th round of the Women's Gold Honor Division.
