El Perelló’s handball team win promotion to Lliga Catalana
El Perelló’s handball team ends the season victorious with a promotion to the Lliga Catalana. The footballers didn’t fare so well. Richard Pope reports.
It’s bad enough missing a penalty at any time, but it’s awful in the final minute of a game with the scores tied. And when it happens in a play-off game for promotion, it’s heartbreaking. This is exactly what happened to Perelló’s handball team captain Nuria Casacuberta against Franqueses del Valles on Saturday.
I’ve watched Nuria take penalty throws on several occasions this season and every one has landed in the back of the net but this time the goalkeeper saved it and the game had to go into extra time with the score at 18-18. Not surprisingly, the wind had been taken out of the team’s sails and they had insufficient time to regain their composure in the ten minutes addded, finally going down by 23 points to 19.
However, all was not lost as they were to play the losers’ final against local rivals Tortosa on Sunday. The winners of this game would still get promotion to the top league, the Lliga Catalana.
El Perelló in the final battle against Tortosa. Photo: Xavi Vegas, Valonmano
I tuned in late to watch the live webcast and with 10 minutes remaining Perelló were ahead by four clear points, were they cruising? As those who watch streamed sports games know the picture can often be very frustrating to watch so I decided to leave and look again with five minutes left on the clock.
When I returned they were only leading by two points, could they keep their nerve and see this one through? I needn’t have worried: these young ladies are well coached and kept their composure running out the winners, 25-23.
Victory is within grasp. Photo Xavi Vegas, Valonmano
You can see how much victory in this game meant to them in this film of the final minutes.
A disappointing football finale
El Perelló’s senior football team had a disappointing finale to their season going down by the solitary goal to the runners up in the league, Jesus Catalonia. This meant that, although L’Ampolla thrashed Sant Jaume d’Enveja by 7 goals to 2, they could only finish in third position and so out of the play-off position. L’Ametlla avoided any relegation worries when they beat fellow strugglers Godall 3-0.
Perelló’s football veterans finished on a high note with an excellent 4-0 victory over Jesus i Maria. This season Perelló’s veterans have struggled against some of the top performers in this league, whose teams are comprised of players who have retired from a good level of football. The vast majority of the Perelló squad play purely for the love of the game and have not played regularly at the first-team level. However, this win saw them leapfrog their opponents in the league table to finish in tenth position.
See our league tables for all the local scores here.
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