Lanzarote Puerto del Carmen achieved this Saturday, at the Municipal de Tías, the victory they needed to seal permanence, one more year, in Oro. The tiñoseras defeated a combative Bm. Ikasa Boadilla (26-22) in a match corresponding to the twenty-fifth and penultimate matchday of the División de Honor Oro femenina.
With one last matchday left to play, las tiñoseras already know they will remain in Oro, with Mislata, who fell at home to Oviedo (21-23), and Carballal, who were also defeated by Pozuelo (20-38), going down. Meanwhile, las aurinegras definitively exit the danger zone and move into twelfth place with seventeen points, tied on points with Lleida and Pereda, Boadilla occupies sixth place with twenty-seven points.
The local team did not have a good first half. Many doubts despite Beatriz Masseu's missile opening the scoring. In the fifth minute, the score was still tied at one after two shots hitting the post by the Tiñoseras. The match continued with too many inaccuracies on both sides, reaching the tenth minute of play with a meager tie at two, but, in just a few seconds, everything that hadn't gone in until that moment found the net (7-6, min. 16). An oasis in the desert. Puerto continued to be weighed down by childish errors in attack. Faced with the continued drought, Boadilla called a timeout (min. 20:33). After the break came the first goal as a black and gold player for Susana Martín in front of her fans. It seemed that Puerto del Carmen was starting to warm up gradually (9-7, min. 24). Roberto Plaza still didn't like what he saw on the court in Tiense and changed all his players at once except one. Soon after, there was an exclusion for Mónica Cabrera and, almost immediately, also for Susana Martín. A new visitor timeout was called to take advantage of the superiority (29:44) and it served them to score in the last breath of the first half from a penalty (11-10).
Masseu, as in the first half, scored the first goal after the break. A tug-of-war in the score began. Jesús Casanova called a timeout being two goals down (13-15, min. 7:30). After the break, it was Lucía Olivier who spread her wings with three consecutive goals that brought the forward back to the locals (16-15, min. 10:36).
The match continued based on streaks. Boadilla pressed and took the lead again, but Dely Leiva tied it again in the middle of the second half (17-17). Boadilla switched to man-to-man defense on Masseu, but Puerto went ahead, prompting another timeout from Plaza (21-18, min. 20:24). Cristina Mazaira continued to provide invaluable oxygen bottles to the tiñosera squad on a day to remember. Carla De Marco galloped on the counterattack to put her team four up with eight minutes left. The match had fallen apart. Puerto smelled permanence, driven by a passionate crowd, and led by five with five minutes to play. Boadilla scored from a penalty, but the crowd was already on fire. Casanova called a timeout to fine-tune in the final minutes (24-20, min. 25:25).
The women from Madrid scored again from a penalty and reduced the hopeful home lead to three goals with two minutes left to play (24-21). Brenda Torres hit the post and Boadilla got within two goals. When it seemed like everything could get complicated, De Marco stormed the visiting goal right through the middle of the defense. Boadilla missed a penalty and De Marco, a homegrown player with a heart stained yellow, the protagonist in the final moments, scored again at the buzzer to seal a stay in Oro that drove the crowd at the Municipal de Tías wild on an unforgettable night.
The winger Beatriz Masseu became the top scorer of the match and of the home team with nine goals. In Boadilla, Ariadna Molina stood out with six goals.
For the coach from Tiñoso, Jesús Casanova, it has been “a game of many nerves. Undoubtedly, we had a lot at stake. And, perhaps because of that, the game was not as fluid as we wanted offensively. In defense, we were containing Ikasa's pushes. And through defense and quick counterattacks, we managed to always be on the scoreboard. I think most of the time we were ahead, we never pulled away, but always ahead. At halftime, we were one goal up and well, as I told the players, one goal with thirty minutes left was nothing and, indeed, Ikasa went ahead on one or two occasions. In the end, we managed to be a solid team, a team that believed in its chances and no longer falls apart as happened in the first round. Mentally, we have grown a lot and we knew how to maintain the pressure of the score, knowing what we were playing for and, fortunately, in the end, with a couple of counterattacks and a couple of plays, we were able to get the lead and the victory. We have saved our category, one more year in Oro, and now, we will wait and see what happens,” concluded the coach of Puerto del Carmen.
The management of the tiñosero club wants to thank the support of the fans who managed to dye the stands of the Municipal de Tías yellow and black. Thanks also to the companies that contributed to the raffle, to former players of the aurinegro club, to politicians from different administrations who were present and, above all, to handball fans from the island, from teams such as Chinijos, Ajaches, Zonzamas and San José, whose encouragement also helped to win the match.
On the last matchday, the twenty-sixth, with nothing left at stake, Lanzarote Puerto del Carmen visits the court of Soliss Bm. Pozuelo de CVA, a team that this week won at the home of the relegated Carballal and that leads with forty points. It will be in two weeks, on Saturday, May 16, at 7:00 PM (peninsular time).
Lanzarote-Puerto del Carmen (26): Cristina Mazaira, Carolina López, Carla De Marco (3), Oriana Palumbo, Brenda Torres (3), Lucía Betancort (1), Mónica Cabrera, Susana Martín (3), Made Cortez, Delyne Leiva (3), Lucía Olivier (4), Alejandra Caicedo and Beatriz Masseu (9). Coach: Jesús Casanova.
Bm. Ikasa Boadilla (22): Irache Llana, Lucia Arcos (5), Silvia Leiras, Yasmina El Haddar (3), Noelia Cardador (4), Asmaa Belguenani, Kenya Casia, Ariadna Molina (6), Lucía Martín, Laura De la Iglesia (2), Neus Carrasquilla (2) and Felicidad Bermudo. Coach: Roberto Plaza.
Quarters every 5 minutes: 1-1, 2-2, 5-6, 7-6, 9-7, 11-9 (halftime) 13-12, 15-15, 17-17, 20-18, 24-19, 26-22(final)
Referees: Víctor Rollán and Sergio Martínez. Among the tiñoseras excluded were Mónica Cabrera, Susana Martín, and Dely Leiva. In Boadilla, Yasmina El Haddar, Noelia Cardador, Lucía Martín, and Laura De la Iglesia.
Incidents: Municipal Pavilion of Tías. Match corresponding to the twenty-fifth matchday of the women's División de Honor Oro. Before the match, the Alevines of Puerto del Carmen, recently proclaimed island champions, were honored, and a gift was presented to Grethe Damora, a player injured a few dates ago.