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.