Two consecutive defeats are not the best way to start for Ángel Ximénez Puente Genil, who fell on the second day of the championship against Torrelavega (28-26) after a match marked by a maximum tie until The Cantabrian team stepped on the accelerator. One of the best of Paco Bustos’ team was goalkeeper Ben Tekaya who supported his team in key moments of the match.
The first half could only be defined by one word: equality. Neither team managed to take control of the match from the first minutes. Instead of a clear domination, there was a maximum equality on the Torrelavega pitch with an exchange of blows between the two teams that made the score 3-3 after the first five minutes. Despite this, the Cantabrians showed themselves a little more efficient in attack and forced the Ponta team to go against the flow. The score was 6-5 after the first 10 minutes. Torrelavega took advantage of a bad transition from Ximénez to take the lead on the scoreboard.
However, the difference was only a little. Angel Ximénez Puente’s goalkeeper, Genil Ben Tekaya, supported his team in the middle of the first half and prevented Torrelavega from scoring. In the 14th minute, a bad fall by Lucas Aizen left Ángel Ximénez in check. The Argentine international, after a good start to the match, gave up even though his team recovered from the blow and did not let the tie escape on the scoreboard (10-10 minutes. 20).
Ben Tekaya was largely responsible for the team not backing down, although Torrelavega made it two up for the first time (14-12), which was quickly countered by Ángel Ximénez until the final score of the first half was 15-14. A frenetic first half hour with two teams with personalitywho didn’t want to leave the party. The first to lower the intensity level would leave empty-handed from the second day of the ASOBAL League.
Maximum equality
The tie was maintained in the second half (17-17, 35th). The main culprit was Ben Tekaya who showed his strong candidacy for the title of best player of the match. Ángel Ximénez had the opportunity to take the lead for the first time with two shots. At first, Janosi shot but the first hit ended in a foul. The second time, he could only shoot with force and almost without an angle. There was no way to get away from the score and the game entered a decisive phasewhere a slight mistake made you lose the match. This is what Paco Bustos’ team wanted to avoid, who suffered in the final minutes.
With ten minutes to go, Torrelavega led by two (21-19) and the Pontoon team rushed a lot in the final meters. It was thick at the time of finishing and the Cantabrian team did not drop its level of efficiency. Torrelavega achieved its best advantage of the match, with a three-point lead. A final push from the Cantabrian team allowed them to take the two points (28-26) against Ángel Ximénez Puente Genil, very well established in attack, but unable to stop the rival attacks.
