08.11.2007, 09:59
Spanish victories on Wednesday’s CL Games

Portland San Antonio and Ademar Leon are just one step from qualifying for the Main Round after winning their matches on Wednesday.

Spanish victories on Wednesday’s CL Games

A1 Bregenz was defeated by Portland and the Austrian team must continue their fight for the third place in Group D.

Kadetten, after the one-goal defeat in Leon, will keep playing for the second place of Group C. It already seems sure that plenty of Spanish teams will reach the next round.

Convincing Portland

Portland have shown their best face after two bad weeks. The team of Javier Cabanas needed a good match to boost their self-confidence now when they are living a difficult situation. The victory of San Antonio could only be in doubt first five minutes of the game. Early in the first half the Spanish defence did not work well and Bregenz were leading in the 15th minute. Afterwards, Matosevic and Juancho Perez came on court and reinforced Portland’s defence.

Roland Schlinger was the only weapon of Bregenz. The Austrian backcourt player returned to Spain for this evening after playing in Leon last season. He scored nine goals and caused a lot of problem at the beginning of the match. Carlos Ruesga was the most effective in Portland’s attacking play as Balic and Vugrinec were not available for the match. Malmagro and Fernando Hernandez also had to leave the court for minor injuries, but Portland won 34-26 at the end. The victory leaves just a slight theoretical chance of not making it to the Main Round.

Ademar keep one goal

Ademar Leon are also near to next round. The victory (31-30) could have been easier for the Spanish side after leading by seven goals at halftime. Ademar felt some fatigue after last week’s matches against Portland, Barcelona and Ciudad Real. The Ribera team was very motivated by their last victory (against Ciudad Real) and the begining was really good.

Kadetten played a very good second half and they got close to take a point at the end. Leon will have two very difficult matches still. Ademar will travel to Skopje to play against Vardar and than to Zagreb. Ademar can wait now for the results of the other teams to be sure to make it to the next round with even two rounds before the end.

TEXT: Fernando Urra Goñi