Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote had gone for more than a year without knowing defeat in the Titerroy Municipal Pavilion, and the leader of the First National had to arrive to assault the fort of San José Obrero. Cajasur Córdoba de Balonmano had to suffer to take the victory and mathematically certify its classification for the promotion phase of the competition. A promotion phase that has become uphill for Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote, being five points behind the second classified when there are only eight left in play. San José Obrero stood up to the leader and was very close to achieving a good result that would have rewarded the enormous effort made on the playing court.
Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote was not going to be intimidated by having the leader of the category in front of them, with Marko Dzokic being in charge of scoring the first goal of the match and showing the intentions of the Lanzarote team on the playing court. Cajasur Córdoba de Balonmano reacted, achieving a 0-4 partial thanks to a very effective attack and a defense and a goalkeeper who stopped all the attacks of San José Obrero. It had to be Marko Dzokic again who broke the partial of the Andalusians.
Javier Ortigosa, coach of Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote, requested a time-out when the score was 4 to 8 in favor of the visitors and only fourteen minutes of the first half had been played. The game of the Lanzarote team improved, getting closer on the scoreboard thanks to the goals scored by Carmelo Álvarez and Agustín Robert from the pivot position. Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote took advantage of a double exclusion to put the 8-10 on the scoreboard.
With three minutes left for the end of the first half, Marko Dzokic, one of the most active players in the team's attack, transformed a seven-meter shot and made it 9-10. Cajasur Córdoba de Balonmano reacted with goals from Francisco Morales, a player who had an endless number of resources in attack to pierce the goal defended by Rey Enrique. With the score of 9 to 11, the first half came to an end.
Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote started the second half pressing and reducing the difference to one goal. Two steals by Cajasur Córdoba de Balonmano and two quick counterattacks increased the differences to four goals in favor of the Andalusians (10-14). Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote reacted with a 3-0 partial and getting to only one goal difference in the 8th minute of the second half.
The Catalan referees Oriol Álvarez and Raúl Escoda were not measuring with the same yardstick to the two teams. They rigorously disqualified Luis Morín in the 9th minute of the second half, not punishing in the same way the intensity that Cajasur Córdoba de Balonmano used to stop the attacks of the Lanzarote team.
Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote did not give up and continued to battle the leader of the category. Rubén Caraballo tied the score and Carmelo Álvarez with a precise lob when culminating a play on the right wing, made it 18 to 17. The visitor Aitor Gómez was also disqualified once the halfway point of the second half was passed.
With eight minutes left for the end of the match, Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote achieved the maximum income of the match. Adrián Prieto with a powerful outside shot established the 21 to 19 and the stands of the Titerroy Municipal Pavilion began to dream of the possibility of giving the surprise. Cajasur Córdoba de Balonmano showed why it occupies the first position only giving up five points this season. The Andalusians put on their work clothes and turned the score around.
The final minutes of the match were heart-stopping and the match could have gone to either side. Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote was not successful in the circulation of the ball in a counterattack, allowing goalkeeper Ramón Fuentes to steal the ball, give it to his teammate Leonardo Ceballos and he established the final 23 to 24.
Defeat of Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote against the leader of group F of the First National Men's Handball League and that leaves the Lanzarote team with few options to fight to play the promotion phase. BM Caserío Ciudad Real, San José Obrero's next rival, did not fail this day, imposing itself away to BM Aguilar (25-32) and increasing the difference in the classification to five points.
Technical Data
Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote (23): Rey Enrique, Marko Dzokic (7), Luis Morín (1), Benjamín Calleja (1), Carmelo Álvarez (5), Alejandro Egea (1) and Rubén Caraballo (5) -initial team- Gerardo Arrocha, Alejandro Millán, Ángel Bonilla, Adrián Prieto (1), Agistín Robert (2), Francisco Carmona and Juan Jesús Romero
Cajasur Córdoba de Balonmano (24): Ramón Fuentes, Antonio Hidalgo (4), Juan José Ortega (1), Juan Ruano (1), Francisco Grueso (5), Leonardo Ceballos (4), Aitor Gomez (1) and José Baena (3) -initial team- José Manuel Padilla, Antonio Lucena, José Abad, Francisco Morales (5) and José Palacios.
Partials every 5 minutes: 1-3, 3-5, 5-8, 5-9, 8-10, 9-11 (break) 10-13, 14-15, 17-17, 19-19, 21-22, 23-24 (final)
Referees: Oriol Álvarez Boixaderas and Raúl Escoda Pérez, from the Catalan Committee. They disqualified Luis Morín with a red card in the 39th minute for Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote and Aitor Gómez in the 48th minute for Cajasur Córdoba de Balonmano. They excluded Alejandro Millán (2), Francisco Carmona (2), Benjamín Calleja (1) and Juan Jesús Romero (1) for Ciudad de Arrecife Chacón Lanzarote and Antonio Hidalgo (1), Josñe Manuel Padilla (1), Francisco Grueso (1), Leonardo Ceballos (1) and Aitor Gómez (1) for Cajasur Córdoba de Balonmano.
Incidents: Titerroy Municipal Pavilion, about 350 spectators. Match corresponding to the 22nd day of the First National Men's Handball League