Urrutikoetxea was very active in the match played yesterday in Tolosa. /
‘Urruti’-Aaranguren 22-18 Ezkurdia-Tolosa
They close the first round of the Couples with four points after their triumph at Beotibar against Ezkurdia and Tolosa, for whom the margin of error is exhausted
Urrutikoetxea and Aranguren are still on the right track. Yesterday they took another step forward to get their fourth point in the Couples and conclude the first round of the league in the center of the classification tied with the second. Few would have thought that at this stage of the competition those from Baiko could be in the midst of fighting for second place that gives direct access to the semifinals, but the great moment of the Biscayan and the regularity of the Gipuzkoan have had their reward. Yesterday, at the Beotibar fronton, they beat Ezkurdia and Tolosa in a not very showy but tense duel in which they were practical. They needed the victory against the bottoms to practically leave out a rival and they got it.
With this defeat, Aspe’s team runs out of error if they want to be in the next round of the competition. With just one point and view, their trajectory so far has to change a lot to achieve it. They fought, but the pressure is increasing and managing it more complicated.
The confrontation was decided in the second half. From the first bars both defenders emitted signs that they were not very fine. They did not lose many balls, but it was difficult to prevent the forwards from entering. And in the happy pictures the activity was intense. Urrutikoetxea and Ezkurdia shared the lead and the score remained even. There were up to six draws, the last at eleven, because the shock was moved by small strokes.
Step to the front red
It was from then on when the colorados managed to get the contest back on track with a 5-1 run. The Biscayan’s hook was sharp, and his teammate managed to put a ball in the eight with his right hitting the wall. The gap hurt the blues. They tried to react but they lacked the regularity that they had shown until then.
The domain was very even, so it was enough for Baiko to keep a cool head because the pressure was from their rivals and it showed.
Ezkurdia had to risk more to try to close the gap and things did not work out, while his defender lost a few balls more than necessary. In this way, Urrutikoetxea and Aranguren extended the lead to seven goals (20-13). But a ball to the plate of Aginaga’s bodyguard allowed the Blues to recover the serve and Arbizu’s was thrown into the open grave. He managed to disturb his rivals something with the serve, but at this point in the match they needed to touch perfection to have options and they did not. At the slightest opportunity that Zaratamo’s player had, he took a step forward, moved the ball well and closed the match with a volley from the right to the wall.
In the Couples promotion match that opened the festival, Salaberria and Erostarbe beat (14-22) Arteaga II, substitute for Bakaikoa, and Elizegi and ratify their leadership. In the third match, Darío and Ladis Galarza beat Elordi and Bikuña (18-8).
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