N1 elite – J14 | Mulhouse falls again, the EVO surprised at home
Missed recovery for Mulhouse-Rixheim who, after losing at home against the Elite Val d’Oise, will completely sink on the side of Saintes (35-25). However, the Alsatians are not the only favorites defeated this weekend…
In this D14, the favorites were again heavily abused. Mulhouse loses -10 in Saintes, the Elite Val d’Oise loses at home against Cournon while Frontignan went to break their teeth in Pau Nousty. Only PSG and Annecy managed to win calmly while Bordeaux only won by one length at home, against Gonfreville.
Saintes bites the big ones
After ending 2021 by exploding Poitiers, theUS Saintes had made a perfect recovery by overcoming Frontignan last week. And we have to believe that these successes are more than confirmed with the overwhelming success of the weekend against the 3rd in the championship. Mulhouse players should not have expected such opposition in Charente-Maritime. From the first act, the two strong men of the day for Saintes hurt Mehdi Ighirri’s men very badly. The brand is powered by a Nemanja Grujicic in legs in the field (10/16, including 2 pen.) while in goal, Maximilien Soliani delivered another exceptional performance with 11 parades before the break (18 in total). 20-11 at the break, a gap which will rise to 11 units but which will leave no doubt as to the outcome of the match (35-25). Fortunately for the players of the Grand Est, the Héraultais of Frontignanwho precede them in the standings, also lost, on the side of Béarn.
The fortress of Pau Nousty continues to take down the most ambitious competitors in the race for the top of the table. However, nothing was easy between two teams who went in quick succession for 60 minutes. After leading by 3 units, the Palois found themselves with a short delay at the break but will gradually recover in the second act. Against the backdrop of a big goalkeeper duel, with Kevin Mesnard at 17 stops for the FTHB and Guillaume Jamet at 16 for the locals, the two belligerents are still back to back at the start of money time (24-24, 52′). But in a big highlight, it was Michel Laborde’s men who struck first. Baptist BergerouMaxime Lamude and Adjiri Corcher (14 goals between them) inflict a 3-0 which provides a precious and well-preserved lead until the issue (29-26).
The fights at the top of the table are revived
These two meetings reshuffled the cards: Frontignan and Mulhouse, who seemed to have broken away, found themselves caught up by a homogeneous peloton made up of non-VAP Annecy, Pau Nousty and PSG II (between 33 and 29 points). And if there is anyone who can bite their fingers, it is the players of theElite Val d’Oisewho misses the opportunity to get closer to the first places by bowing to Cournon d’Auvergne.
Cournon continues its rise in the standings
Despite a start to the match with a time delay, where Cape Verdean Flavio Rodrigues Fortes grapeshot (0-3, 8′), it is the Val d’Oise players who will take the match on their own. After coming back level, and despite the 5 goals of Max Bouquet in the first act, a 3-0 before the break allowed Safwann Khoudar’s men to return to the locker room in a good position (15-12, 30′). However, the future partners of Yassine Idrissi have not said their last word. Despite a Chris Nkuingoua in good shape with the locals, the Auvergnats managed to gradually come back to score until they went 5-0 to turn the tide at the start of money time (24-20, 48′; 24-25, 52′) . Bouquet’s direct red card could then have put a stop to the Dragons but, thanks in particular to the precious saves of Theo Karoubi (3 in the last 4 minutes), it is the visitors who emerge victorious (28-30). The Elite Val d’Oise will however have the worst travel to revive, with a trip to Bordeaux lands in two weeks.
the Bordeaux-Bruges-Lormont was however not dominant against a team of Gonfreville-l’Orcher very solid. And for good reason, Ibrahima Diallo’s men will lead the game for almost 55 minutes!
BBL wins in the end
Pierre Fitte-Duval well supported by the neo-Aquitaine defense, it is the young Mael Fouga we see scoring on the back base (5/5), and the Norman front base is not left out with Baptiste Mir on the right and captain Lassana Niakate on the left (4 goals each). The gap is 3 units at the break (10-13, 30′), is reduced in a more disputed second act but rises to 2 units after two goals from Fouga at the end of the game (18-20, 51′). But that was without counting the experience of Xavier Moreau, who found a Paul Louis Guiraudou effective inside (6/6), before scoring in his own name to put his own in front (21-20, 53′). Two minutes from time, it’s a Karim Balti-Khader more discreet in scoring but devilishly effective in the last minutes which increases the gap to +2 for the locals. Enough to grab 3 points that would rarely have been so disputed for the men of Philippe Gardent and Benoît Peyrabout.
Paris and Annecy catch up with the top3
Finally, the PSG reserve integrated a solid success in the second act from the side of Poitiers. Wallem Pelleka and Tony Mendy will have made the powder speak on the back base (7 and 6 goals) to lead theirs to a controlled success (28-33). Note the 7 goals of Lyvio Asabina and Ibrahima Sall on the Griffons side.
An even more frank scenario took place on the side of Dreux-Vernouillet. Despite the strong performance of Rachid Belkacem in pivot and Johan Kiangebeni on his left wing with 7 goals each, it’s good Annecy who controls the meeting. The gap will be around 5 units in the second act and Dragan Mihailovic’s men remain without solutions (29-36). Note Ludovic Le Goff’s 15 saves on the CSAV side, as well as the impressive score of Bastien Giuccardi (10/12). If the J15 will be played in two weeks, the two adversaries will however find themselves on deck next weekend to catch up on their late matches: against Poitiers for Vernouillet, and Saintes for Annecy. Two posters that could fight hotly contested battles.
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Antoine Piollat