CB San José Obrero Lanzarote faced Attica21 Hotels OAR Coruña on Saturday afternoon, a team that arrived in Titerroy as the leader of the category and with the reputation of being a favorite to fight for a place in the promotion phase. The two teams played a very intense match in defense, which became complicated for the locals in the final minutes as they were stuck in attack, and where the performance of goalkeeper Javi Santana was key to prevent the Galicians from tying the score.
From the beginning, the match was very intense on the court, with two teams working hard in the defensive line to not give the opponent any options. The score was quite low, which suggested that the match would be decided by small details. Before the halfway point of the first half, Ángel Iglesias culminated a counterattack and central defender Diego Fernández scored to establish a 6-4 lead on the scoreboard.
Pablo Aguirregabiria, coach of OAR Coruña, seeing how his team was having problems in attack, requested a time-out. After the instructions from the bench, Rubén Caraballo increased the lead for the locals. The 6:0 defense of San José Obrero was creating many problems for the Galicians, which allowed them to dominate the match. In attack, the locals were somewhat rushed and not managing to develop their plays.
With four minutes left until halftime, Ángel Iglesias converted a seven-meter throw and established a five-goal advantage (13-8). The first half ended with a counterattack that Rafa Robayna started with a long pass, with Acoidán Martín scoring on the buzzer. The scoreboard reflected a 15-10 lead for the locals at the end of the first 30 minutes of play.
OAR Coruña was not willing to make it easy and quickly got back into the match at the start of the second half. The period began with a 0-3 run in favor of the Galicians with goals from Juan Carlos Rodríguez, Francesco Aragona, and Diego Martínez. The coach of San José Obrero took just four minutes to request the first time-out and try to stop the reaction of the visitors.
CB San José Obrero gradually got into the match and even recovered the five-goal advantage they had at halftime. Ángel Iglesias converted two seven-meter throws to put the score at 19-14. OAR Coruña changed its defensive system and began to create many problems for the locals' attack.
The final minutes of the match would be truly heart-stopping. Francesco Aragona converted a seven-meter throw to reduce the locals' lead to just two goals (20-18). And with six minutes left until the end, Diego Martínez scored from the wing to put the score at 22-21, forcing Iñaki Malumbres to request another time-out.
The defense of San José Obrero increased its intensity in these final minutes, and the good interventions of Javi Santana allowed them to keep the two points in Titerroy. The goalkeeper of San José Obrero made several interventions of great merit, one of them even to prevent the opponent from tying. Two goals from Rubén Caraballo allowed them to increase the difference to three goals (24-21) and practically seal the match.
Victory by 25 to 22 for CB San José Obrero Lanzarote against Attica21 Hotels OAR Coruña, in a match in which the Lanzarote team returns to winning ways and is placed in third position with one game less than the rest of their rivals. Next Saturday, San José Obrero will play at home again, receiving the visit of Balonmano Reconquista de Vigo.
Match Details
CB San José Obrero Lanzarote (25): Javi Santana, Miguel Laguna (2), Diego Fernández (1), Rafa Robayna (2), Mikita Liavonau (2), Ángel Iglesias (9) and Acoidán Martín (2) -starting team- Pavel Miskevich, Valentín Perdomo, Joel Peraza, Abián Gil, Rubén Caraballo (4), Carmelo Álvarez, Oscar Silva (3), Diego Ruiz and Alexis Rodríguez. Coach: Iñaki Malumbres
Attica21 Hotels OAR Coruña (22): Iago Gómez, Miguel Ángel Simón, Diego Martínez (3), Julián López, Francesco Aragona (6), Henrique Gabriel (1) and Juan Carlos Rodríguez (3) -starting team- Pablo Martínez (9), Juan Pereira, Kevin Dacosta, Adrián Pérez, Alejandro Naya, Ramón López and Daniel Mcnamee. Coach: Pablo Aguirregabiria
Scores every 5 minutes: 2-3, 4-4, 6-4, 8-5, 12-8, 15-10 (halftime) 16-13, 18-14, 20-16, 21-18, 22-21, 25-22 (final)
Referees: Jorge López González and José Luis Hernández Lara. They excluded Joel Peraza (1), Acoidán Martín (1), Miguel Laguna (1) and Mikita Liavonau (1) for CB San José Obrero and Miguel Ángel Simón (2), Diego Martínez (1) and Julián López (1) for Attica21 Hotels OAR Coruña.
Incidents: Titerroy Municipal Pavilion, about 150 spectators. Match corresponding to the 6th round of Group A of the Men's First National League
