A great match was played on Saturday afternoon at the Municipal Pavilion of O Rosal, with Valinox Novás and Balonmano Lanzarote Ciudad de Arrecife demonstrating why they are currently the two teams leading the standings in Group A of the Men's First National League. The Lanzarote team was ahead on the scoreboard for much of the game, and had the last attacking play to tie the match, ultimately losing by a narrow 27 to 26 against the league leaders.
Balonmano Lanzarote Ciudad de Arrecife started the match very plugged in, with Abián Martín scoring the first two goals from the pivot and playing defense with a 5:1 system with Rafa Robayna in the advanced position. In the early stages of the match, Ángel Iglesias and Abián Martín extended the lead to three goals (1-4).
Past the halfway point of the first half and after a series of turnovers, the Valinox Novás coach called a timeout (8-10). The instructions from the bench helped the Galicians tie the game with goals from Nico López Rey from the seven-meter line and Diego Prada on a counter-attack (10-10).
The Balonmano Lanzarote Ciudad de Arrecife did not collapse, reacting to regain a three-goal lead, with Santiago Cardone, Aday González, and Javi Aragón scoring, the latter two goals on the counter-attack after recovering the ball in defense. The half-time score was 13 to 15 in favor of San José Obrero.
In the first minutes of the second half, Balonmano Lanzarote Ciudad de Arrecife regained a three-goal lead, with Rafa Robayna stealing the ball in defense and finishing a quick counter-attack (14-17). Valinox Novás increased their defensive intensity in this second half and began to trouble San José Obrero's attack, even managing to tie the game, forcing Alfredo Rodríguez to call a timeout (18-18).Bruno Vázquez put Valinox Novás ahead for the first time on the scoreboard, and the Galicians even managed a three-goal lead halfway through the second half (23-20), with Alfredo Rodríguez calling a timeout once again. The goals from Javi Aragón and Acoidán Martín brought Balonmano Lanzarote Ciudad de Arrecife closer on the scoreboard (24-23)With four minutes left in the match, Pedro Telles took advantage of a numerical superiority, after Rafa Robayna's disqualification, to extend the lead to three goals for the home team. The goals from Javi Aragón, Ángel Iglesias, and Abián Martín once again tied the game with less than a minute remaining. Ismael Gómez scored for Valinox Novás on his team's last attacking play, and Balonmano Lanzarote Ciudad de Arrecife had the final attack to tie, but Javi Aragón's shot missed the target.
With the score at 27 to 26, the match ended in a packed Pabellón Municipal de O Rosal, with Balonmano Lanzarote Ciudad de Arrecife losing by the narrowest of margins on the leader's court. Despite the defeat, San José Obrero maintains second place with a two-point lead over the third-placed team, and will bid farewell to the year by hosting Balonmano Culleredo next Saturday.
Technical Sheet
Valinox Novás (27): Héctor Gil, Yago Santomé, Xurxo Rivas (3), José Leiras (2), Rubén Fernández (2), Diego Prada (3) and Ismael Gómez (2) - starting lineup - Bruno Vázquez (3), Iago Flores, Pedro Teles (6), Nico Rey (5), Martín Dávila (1), Rubén López, Pablo Miana, Yasmir Martínez and Nicolás Portela. Coach: Guillermo Artime
Balonmano Lanzarote Ciudad de Arrecife (26): Saúl Rodríguez (1), Mauro Jaureguiberry (1), Rafa Robayna (1), Abián Martín (6), Javi Aragón (9), Óscar Silva and Ángel Iglesias (4) -starting lineup- Javi Santana, Joel Armas, Acoidán Martín (2), Santiago Cardone (1), Aday González (1) and Adrián Juárez. Coach: Alfredo Rodríguez
Quarters every 5 minutes: 1-3, 4-6, 7-8, 9-10, 12-14, 13-15 (halftime) 16-18, 20-19, 22-20, 24-22, 25-23, 27-26 (final)
Referees: Joan Moncusi Cunillera and Bernat Moncusi Cunillera. They disqualified Santiago Cardone with a red card in the 47th minute and Rafa Robayna in the 54th minute for Balonmano Lanzarote Ciudad de Arrecife. They excluded Rubén Fernández (1) for Valinox Novás and Mauro Jaureguiberry (1) and Óscar Silva (1) for Balonmano Lanzarote Ciudad de Arrecife.
Incidents: Municipal Pavilion of O Rosal. Match corresponding to matchday 14 of group A of the First National Men's League.
