Dax-Gamarde in search of rebound under penalty of disillusion
If on paper, three matches seem affordable (Golbey-Épinal, Pôle France and Avignon), the fourth (in Kaysersberg) could well look like a final, provided, of course, to win the other three. Unfortunately, as since the start of the season, Dax-Gamarde is, week after week, affected by an epidemic of injuries, which seems not to want to leave him. Biruta, his Lithuanian leader in points and evaluation, has had a loose ankle for two weeks and, at present, it is impossible to say whether we will see him again on the pitch by the end of the season. Marc Gosselin still feels his ankle and, after his return against Avignon, could again be lacking in the workforce.
Physical glitches
If we add the various glitches of each other which do not prevent them from playing but which damage their state of form, the conditions are far from optimal to treat these four crucial matches. But in this very special season which is unlike any other and as the saying goes “as long as there is life, there is hope”.
This tortuous road begins on the side of Golbey Épinal – this Friday April 8 (8 p.m.) in Épinal – which the DGB will have joined on Thursday April 7, after stops in Paris and Nancy. The Vosges club has been fixed on its fate for a long time and joins the National 2 at the start of the next school year. But he is trying somehow to look good in this second phase. As was the case during the first leg in the spa town where, after a very attacking match (88-85), Denis Mettay’s men got away with it in extremis, still under threat from visitors, who fired there their last cartridges in their hopes of maintenance.
Since then, the Vosges drag their misery and, despite a commendable good will, still can not bring back a victory. During the last day, with the reception of Bordeaux, the opportunity was good to break this negative spiral and once again, nothing helped, the Girondins won this match without contest (75-83).
defense priority
Dax-Gamarde would be well advised to follow the example of the Girondin neighbors, under penalty of seeing its last hopes fly away. For this, it is essential to find a defensive balance, which was once the strength of this group. For too many weeks now he has been missing, or at least less present than he should be. Without defense worthy of the name, the DGB could well find themselves face to face with totally uninhibited local players, since they have nothing left to play.