Barça Sorli Discau lost to Blanes 4-3 in a match in which the home side fought very hard to win. Although Barça opened the scoring, Blanes simply upped their game.
MATCH STATS
Sather BLANES , 4
FCB Sorli Discau, 3
Sather Blanes (2 +2): Fernández, Kimi Ridaura (1), Armengol (1), Selva, Teixidó -
starting five - Cazuela, Alex Ridaura (1), Teixidó (1)
FC Barcelona Sorli Discau (2 +1): Fernández, Ordeig, Panadero, Torra, Garcia (1) -
starting five - Páez, Adroher, Lopéz, Borregán (2)
Goals: 0-1, Garcia (p), min. 2, 1-1, Alex Ridaura, min. 11, 2-1, Teixidó, min. 13,
2-2, Borregán, min. 14, 2-3, Borregán, min. 33, 3-3, Kimi Ridaura, min. 36, 4-3, Armengol, min. 37
Referees: Ribó and López
When Ferran Pujalte warned that the game in Blanes would be very different to the two already
played at home (in which Barça Sorli Discau won 7-1 and 5-1) he wasn’t joking. Sather Blanes
has been improving throughout the season, and the game in Girona was testimony to that fact. Under
the orders of Ramon Benito, Blanes wanted to offer their fans a good game of hockey and they
succeeded.
Improvement
Reinaldo Garcia was given the chance to take a penalty only three minutes into the
game, and the first Barça attack. Naldo beat goalie Roger Fernandez with a sweetly struck shot..
After the opening goal the game underwent a period in which the Girona team defended well and
Barça Sorli Discau couldn’t find the plays to do any more damage.
Doubts were creeping in, when in a Blanes counter attack, Marc Torra slipped and lost the
ball. Jepi Selva and Petxina Armengol, however, failed to communicate with the last pass and were
unable to score.
Three minutes later, hearts were in mouths when a shot from Armengol hit the post. But third
time lucky, in a counter-attack, preceded by a possible foul, Alex Ridaura hit a cross shot from
right to left high into Sergio Fernandez’s goal.
The equalizer unsettled Barça a bit, and Lluís Teixidó, who knows them pretty well, took
advantage of the situation to put the home side ahead with an individual effort.
Ferran Pujalte looked to his bench to get the required reaction. His captain, Alberto
Borregán, was swift and deadly, and a minute later, Beto put the ball into the Blanes net to make
it 2-2, and the score remained the same until half-time..
Although both sides had chances to go ahead, Borregán missed with a direct free-hit following
the tenth team foul by Blanes, and Cazuela saw Sergi Fernandez block his first effort..
Cheeky Blanes
Blanes took the initiative shortly after the restart. Looking to capitalize on the
counter-attacks, based on their hard and compact defense, Sather had three consecutive attacks that
almost resulted in goals. Sergi Fernandez was up to the task though, and prevented Blanes from
going ahead..
Barça needed patience, and instinct, to get around the Blanes defensive wall, . and Borregán
finally did it, eight minutes after the restart, working himself into a position to shoot
The respite for Barça was short. A foul on the edge of the area ended with the home team, in
a smart play, equalizing at 3-3.
The Sather fans got the win they had hoped for when Petxina Armengol scored the fourth from a
penalty thirty seconds later.
The Barça players worked well towards the end, running, looking for the ball, moving it from
left and right ... but time was running out and they couldn’t find the fourth goal. They did
manage to put the ball into Roger Fernandez's net but Carlos Fernández López had lifted his stick
too high and the goal was disallowed.
In an intense last few minutes, Sergi Fernández reacted coolly to the direct free-hit taken
by Armengol after the tenth foul by Barca, and Roger Fernández, at the other end, had to save a
Reinaldo Garcia shot after the second cycle of fouls. In the last minute a direct free-hit from
Panadero went all wrong after the ball slid away from him.