27-SEPTEMBER-2013
SL BENFICA WINS 2013 SUPERCUP

Sport Lisboa e Benfica won the third Portuguese Supercup in its history, by edging Associação de Jovens Fonte do Bastardo in the tie break (3-2: 25-21, 21-25, 25-16, 13-25, 15-12) of a match held at the City Sports Hall of Vila do Conde.
Despite being at the beginning of the season, both teams put on a good show, which raises the expectation for the National Championship.

The match was balanced right from the start with several ties, but Benfica managed to win the first set after taking advantage of defensive errors, and recording three consecutive points, which broke the tie at 18.

The “reds” put some pressure on their opponent right from the start of the second set (5-2) but the Azoreans changed their strategy, thus recovering from the early disadvantage and naturally taking the second set to tie the score.

Hurt in its pride, SL Benfica entered very strong in the third set, going up 7-1, 16-8 and 19-8. However, Fonte Bastardo managed to recover some terrain, 23-15, only to show that they were not defeated yet, as the third set went to the books at 25-16.

The fourth set showed a more consistent Azorean side that, after playing point for point until the first technical timeout, managed to widen the gap to 16-9 and 20-10, before Gilson França ended the set at 25-13 for Bastardo.

In the tie break the score remained tight (12-12), but Kibinho and Hugo Gaspar sealed the fate of the 15th edition of the Supercup.

José Jardim (SL Benfica head coach): “We can’t say we played well. We had very good moments and some bad ones, but I believe that both teams put on a great display, well supported by the fans. Benfica showed a higher level in the decisive moments. Despite all, I think we’ve served well in the tie break although we had failed on attack for some times that could have given us an early edge”.

Hugo Gaspar (SL Benfica): “This victory tastes very good. We’ve worked hard for this and we’ve shown our union and team spirit, as we knew that this was the only way to take the cup home. We were very good in the final set and I wish to thank all Benfica fans that were here supporting our team”.

Alexandre Afonso (AJ Fonte Bastardo head coach): “It was a good match between two of the top three national teams. I’m pleased with my players who only started training three and a half weeks ago, with some new players arriving this year. Both teams will improve and I hope mine manages to improve better than Benfica and put on great displays throughout the season”.

Starting lineups:
SL Benfica – Roberto Reis, Fabrício Silva, Hugo Gaspar (cap.), Flávio Cruz, Flávio Soares e Ricardo Perini; João Coelho (libero); Miguel Rodrigues, João Magalhães, Marc Honoré, Joan Diaz (Ché), João Oliveira.
AJF Bastardo – Bruno Gonçalves, Lucas Gregoret, Peter Lundgren, João José, Caíque Silva e Gilson França; João Fidalgo (libero); Nuno Pereira, Miguel Meneses.

More info: www.fpvoleibol.pt / www.facebook.com/fpvoleibol