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League semi-finalists

In their second season in the Honor Division, Barça Senseit reached the league semi-final where they were beaten by the eventual winners. The cup was a negative note on a somewhat irregular season.

Barça Senseit went into their second season in the Honor Division with two aims: qualification for the Spanish Cup and for the league play-offs. The result was good and bad. The club finished ninth after the first round of games and so failed to qualify for the cup. But on a positive note, the club qualified for the league play-offs and reached the semi-finals, where they were beaten by Interviú Fadesa, who went on to win the trophy.

Click here to see all the results of the season.

Leaders

Marc Carmona began the season with the difficult task of uniting a squad with a lot of new faces. In total, there were six new signings covering all positions: Paco Sedano and Cristian Domínguez in goal, PC as defender, Justo Cáceres as left wing, and Fernandao and Igor as pivots. Despite the difficulty of incorporating so many new players, the team started the season pretty well.

The team lost their first game away to Gestesa but quickly recovered from this setback. From their second game, at home to Caja Segovia, the azulgranas went on an unbeaten run of eight games. Six wins and two draws took Carmona’s side to first position. Barça Senseit were leaders then when the league took a break for the European Championships in Oporto.

Out of the cup

The return of the league nearly one month later came with a game against one of the strongest teams in the Honor Division: El Pozo Murcia. Barça Senseit started the game very well and were leading by three goals towards the end but it was then that the Murcians showed their experience and managed to turn the game around in only four minutes. After this defeat Barça fell apart and though they drew their next game against Azkar Lugo, they then went on to lose four in a row.

The cup was getting further away from them but going in to the last game of the first round of matches Carmona’s men were still in with a chance of finishing in the top eight. But they lost at home in the Palau Blaugrana against Armiñana Valencia and so lost their chance of playing in the cup. Also gone was the first objective of the season.

Erratic

The second round of league games was marked by some erratic play. In the first six games, Barça only won one, drew three and lost two. By game 22 things looked to be stabilising with three wins in a row against Lobelle, Leis and Mósteles. But all this advantage was lost in the next three games – Barça losing all three. However, the league was very balanced and Barça were still in and around the top eight positions.

‘Sprint’ finish

Nearing the end of the season, Barça Senseit played host to one of the league’s most difficult opponents, Interviú Fadesa, who were already mathematically qualified in second place. Barça had to win to maintain any hope of making the play-offs. In a great show of courage and valour, Carmona’s men beat the Madrid side with a Dani Fernández goal from inside his own half. This win gave the team a lot of confidence and put them in good form for the final two games. MRA Navarra were beaten in the Palau Blaugrana which meant it was all to play for in the final game against Armiñana Valencia.

It was an all or nothing game. The two teams were level on 42 points with Barça in seventh position and the Valencians in eighth. The Armiñana court was at fever pitch and the pressure was palpable in every corner. But Barça Senseit managed to black everything out and played a very serious game, running out 2-6 winners. Not only did Barça gain their passport to the play-offs, but also managed to finish in sixth place and so avoided the two big guns of El Pozo Murcia and Interviú Fadesa for the quarter-final.

Semi-finalists

Barça’s opposition in the quarter-final was Benicarló Onda Urbana, who had finished third in the league and thus would have home advantage in Castellón for the first game. Barça played with the confidence they had gained from the last few league games and put on an awesome display in trouncing Benicarló 1-7. Everything was in their favour for the return leg and Barça made no mistake of qualifying for the semis by winning 4-1 in the Palau. Barça Senseit would play in the semi-finals for the second time in their history.

Their opponents would be Interviú Fadesa, who would also play with home advantage in the first leg. In the first leg in Madrid, the Catalan side didn’t play well and lost 5-2. In the second game Carmona’s men showed a better side to their game. With six minutes to go the home team were winning by two goals but Jesús Candelas’ attackers would prove decisive. Two goals by ex-azulgrana Jordi Torras brought things level. Not long after, another ex-azulgrana, Joan Lineres, put Interviú ahead. Barça Senseit gave it everything, even playing with player-keeper, but couldn’t alter the score. And so they were knocked out, but with heads high, by the league champions.