The 5th round of the French League saw two derby games. Marseille and Tourcoing, the team which had perfect records before this round, faced off in Marseille. Strasbourg hosted Pays d’Aix.
The home teams collected points in both matches. Marseille defeated Tourcoing 14:9, thanks to a remarkable comeback. Strasbourg was better than Pays d’Aix in the game that was decided in the final eight minutes (12:9).
Marseille and Strasbourg haven’t suffered a loss since the start of the season.
2021/22 French League, Day 5
Marseille – Tourcoing 14:9 (4:6, 6:3, 3:0, 1:0)
Marseille: Prlainovic 6, Crousillat 4, Marion-Vernoux 1, Vernoux 1, Bouet 1, Vanpeperstraete 1.
Tourcoing: Gagulic 2, Canonne 2, Kujacic 1, Randjic 1, Avena 1, Rocchietta 1, Krisman 1.
Strasbourg – Pays d’Aix 12:8 (3:3,3:3, 3:3, 3:0)
Strasbourg : Misic 3, Valentino 2,Babic 2, Buha 2, Bachelier 1, Cesca 1, Denus 1,
Pays d’Aix : Monneret 3, Popadic 2, Grgurevic 2, Dino 1, Giga 1
Sete – Noisy-le-Sec 10:17 (3:5, 2:4, 0:6, 5:2)
Sete: Furman 5, Jovanovic 2, Aquila 2, Debiais 1.
Noisy-le-Sec Cercle 93: Petkovic 5, Krapic 4, Do Carmo 3, Marzouki 2, Caumette 1, Saudadier 1.
Nice – Reims 7:4 (1:2, 1:0, 3:1, 2:1)
Olympic Nice: D.Butic 3, K.Butic 2, Cutovic 1, Cakic 1.
Stade de Reims: Pesteric 3, Popovic 1.
Montpellier – Douai 12:6 (2:2, 4:0, 2:0, 4:4)
Montpellier: Ivankovic 4, Mustur 3, Kalinic 2,D.Zivkovic 2, Alfonso Pozo 1.
Douai: Balaz 2, Vandamme 1, Begovic 1, Vitrant 1, Gorria 1.
Postponed match (Day 3)
Strasbourg – Montpellier 12:11 (4:2, 3:3, 3:5, 2:1)
Tourcoing stunned Marseille in the opening minutes. The visitors had a 6:4 advantage after the first period. They streched the margin to three early in the second (7:4). Shortly after, Marseille found its rhythm. The reigning champion, led by Andrija Prlainovic (who scored five goals in the first half) and Ugo Crousillat, produced a 4:0 run and turned around the three-goal deficit to an 8:7 lead. Tourcoing equalized twice in the last three minutes of the first half (8:8 and 9:9), but Prlainovic closed the second quarter with his 5th goal 31 seconds before the middle break for 10:9. Marseille held Tourcoing goalless in the second half and recorded a convincing 14:9 victory.
Strasbourg and Pays d’Aix were in a neck-and-neck race during the first three quarters (each of these periods saw three goals on both ends of the pool). Five minutes before the end, the score was 9:9. Strasbourg scored two goals in two minutes for 11:9. Pays d’Aix couldn’t catch up with the hosts, who earned a 12:9 lead with 01:58 minutes remaining on the clock. That was the end of the contest. Strasbourg is still unbeaten, with 14 points (four wins and a draw). Pays’ d’Aix, which had a challenging schedule at the beginning of the league, has collected only three points.
After an unexpected loss to Douai in the 4th round (10:14), Noisy-le-Sec returned to the winning track. The Parisians blew away Sete – 17:10 with five goals from Antonio Petkovic and four from Ivan Krapic.
Nice defeated Reims 7:4. All eleven goals were scored by players who arrived in France from the countries of former Yugoslavia or have ex-Yu origins.
Montpellier beat Douai. The middle two quarters (4:0 and 2:0) were crucial for the outcome.
1 Marseille 6 – 18
2 Strasbourg 5 – 14
3 Noisy-le-Sec 4 – 9
4 Montpellier 5 – 7
5 Tourcoing 4 – 9
6 Nice 5 – 6
7 Pays d’Aix 5 – 3
8 Douai 6 – 3
9 Sete 5 – 3
10 Reims 5 – 1
