For Mataró, this was the chance to win the league in the pool, as the first, in 2020, he won because he was leading the regular phase when the pandemic came. In Sabadell he did not like being declared a new champion without playing the play-off, a wound that still burns. “In the pool, Sabadell has not lost a league final for years,” admits Judith Forca, one of the best players to emerge from the CN Sabadell school. The last one was in 2010 with the Mediterranean, in fact. But this year Mataró reached the optimistic final, after winning 4 of the last 5 official matches in Valles, including the finals of the Spanish Super Cup, the Copa de la Reina and the Copa Catalunya. In addition, Mataró had rested more, as they had beaten Terrassa in the semifinals in two games. Sabadell needed three to overcome a Mediterranean that almost eliminated them. But, in the final, the character of the Vallesans prevailed: they won the first game at home, lost the second Friday in Mataró in the penalty areas and controlled the third in a swimming pool in Can Llong de Sabadell full from top to bottom, with a great first half in a final that has not escaped controversy. Sabadell, angry at the refereeing of the second game, in which 10 players were sent off; Mataró, annoyed by the few tickets they were initially given for the last game. The stops of the international goalkeeper Laura Ester, as well as the four goals of Irene González, have allowed Sabadell to defeat the Maresmenques by 10-7. The good defense against Anni Espar, the great star of Mataró, has been key to leaving the title at home.
Sabrina van der Sloot, Irene González and Maggie Steffens have paved the way in a first quarter in which Laura Ester has stopped everything. In fact, Mataró took a long time to overcome it, thanks to a first goal from Bella Markoch. Irene González and Nona Pérez, however, allowed Sabadell to escape to a very dangerous 5-1. Dani Ballart’s team, with goals from Sílvia Morell and Clara Cambray, were able to get closer to Sabadell shortly before the break (6-3). Nona Pérez scored Sabadell’s last goal in the first half. In the third quarter, Irene González and Judith Forca almost sentenced (8-3), with the local defense stopping the visiting big star, Anni Espar. Simone van de Kraats made it 8-4 from the penalty spot, before a last quarter in which the goals of Irene González and Sabrina van der Sloot were enough to keep Mataró far away who fell with their heads held high thanks to two goals from Simone van de Kraats and the only one today from Anni Espar.
After losing the Champions League final in Greece to 2,000 Olympiacos fans, Sabadell found themselves on the ropes in the semi-finals, but were able to defend their league title, despite the physical problems of captain Maica García and tired of having played more games, as the marshals fell before the final stages of the Euroleague. Mataró, a team in which two of the best players, the always competitive Anni Espar and Sílvia Morell, have played for Sabadell, has added a new runner-up under Dani Ballart. In the last six years he has won a League, two Cups, two Super Cups and the LEN Cup and has been confirmed as the great rival of a Sabadell that has filled Can Llong to the brim to show that they remain the capital of women’s water polo. And all in a year in which the men’s team has also made history by winning the European LEN Cup. In Sabadell, we must not forget, the first swimming pool in Spain was built. More than 100 years of tradition and history that never stop.
