FCBARCELONA.CAT

04.03.2007 19:18

Cup winners (1-3)

Barcelona Sorli Discau have won yet another title. Quim Paüls’ roller hockey team beat Reus Deportiu in the final of the Copa del Rey in Alcoi, the seventeenth time Barça has collected the trophy.

Barça gained revenge on Reus Deportiu for defeat in last year’s Copa del Rey final. It was mainly one-way traffic as Quim Paüls’s side led 2-0 at half time, showing tremendous concentration and deciding affairs with some quality individual moves. Alnimar Reus Deportiu, dearly missing the suspended Toni Sánchez simply didn’t get a look-in as Barça cruised to another famous title victory.

Reus start strong

The way Reus played early on, it didn’t look like they would be played off the court as they were later on. Playing the ball around fast, they looked cool and composed and enjoyed the first three goalscoring opportunities, bringing out the best in Aitor Egurrola in much the same way as he had done in the semi final against Liceo Vodafone.
But FC Barcelona Sorli Discau had all the tricks still waiting up their collective sleeve, and Reus keeper Guillem Trabal was soon put to the test. And it wasn’t to be his day, and he was largely to blame for allowing Alberto Borregán to break the deadlock on six minutes. José Luis ‘El Negro’ Páez, as against Liceo, was proving influential, passing his experience and quality on to his team mates.

Panadero makes it two

Leading 1-0, Barça took the initiative, using the bench well and maintaining possession for long periods of time, toying with the opposition and creating counter attacks that eventually achieved the end, a second goal, this time from Sergi Panadero. The former Voltregà player was making all the difference, along with an impressive Carlitos López. The Argentinian had come on a few moments earlier in place of Beto Borregán who, like Jordi Garcia, was shown the blue after two yellow cards, the second of which seemed especially harsh.

And in goes the third

Barça sentenced the match early in the second half with a Carlitos López strike after an excellent individual play. The Argentinian, a delight to watch despite only being able to play with one hand, struck the ball past Guillem Trabal for the third time, with just over a quarter of an hour left to play. Seconds later Marc Gual struck Mia Ordeig on the shoulder and the former Reus star went down in obvious pain. This was a clear blue card offence, but the umpires had not seen anything and it went unpunished.

Manel Barceló’s side was powerless to find a response, and only conjured up three timid long shots in response before, 9 minutes from the end, finally grabbing what would only be a consolation goal through Lluís Teixidó.