Marseille mathematically secured 1st place in the regular season of the French League and will enter the playoffs from the “pole position”
The reigning champion earned a 14:10 away win over Noisy-le-Sec today.
Noisy suffered two losses this week, so its 2nd place is in danger now.
Tourcoing beat Noisy earlier this week (17:15) in the postponed derby of the 15th round. This weekend, Tourcoing defeated Sete 21:11, climbed to 3rd place, and came very close to Noisy. Only four points separate these two rivals. However, Tourcoing will play against Marseille in one of the remaining two matches. So, it has to surprise the favorite to stay in the race for 2nd place. Noisy will play only one game until the end of the regular season.
Marseille and the 2nd-placed team will advance to the semifinals. The teams ranked 3rd – 6th will play in the quarterfinals of the playoffs.
2022/23 French League, Day 16
Noisy-le-Sec – Marseille 10:14 (0:4, 3:3, 4:4, 3:3)
Noisy-le-Sec (Cercle 93): Bowen 3, Saudadier 2, Bjorch 1, Do Carmo 1, Petkovic 1, Krapic 1, Guerin 1.
Marseille: Prlainovic 4, Crousillat 2, Vernoux 2, Vukicevic 2, Bouet 2,Izdinsky 1, Marion-Vernoux 1.
Pays d’Aix – Reims 20:13 (6:2, 5:2, 5:3, 4:4)
Pays d’Aix: Khasz 6, Peisson 3, Rocchietta 3, Vrdoljak 2, Dunstan 2, Beteille 2, Strkalj 1, Bakircilar 1.
Stade de Reims:Bulat 4, Culina 3, Babic 2, Missy 2, Vix 1,
Tourcoing – Sete 21:11 (4:4, 6:3, 7:0, 4:4)
Tourcoing:D.Zivkovic 6, Dasic 4, Draskovic 3, Kujacic 3, Marzouki 2, Durik 2, Canonne 1.
Sete:Sauton 3, Tomic 3, Furman 2, Bofill 2, Victorin 1.
Montpellier – Nice 15:8 (3:3, 4:3, 3:0, 5:2)
Montpellier: Ivankovic 5, Piot 3, Dory 3, Vilcot 3, Ben Romdhane 1.
Olympic Nice: Murisic 2, Carpentras 2, Barsotelli 1, Sterling 1, P. De Nardi 1, Irmes 1.
Strasbourg bye
Postponed match of 15 round
Tourcoing – Noisy-le-Sec 17:15 (7:4, 6:2, 3:5, 1:4)
Tourcoing: Dasic 4, Marzouki 4, Lepoint 2, Durik 2, Kujacic 2, D.Zivkovic 1, M.Brguljan 1, Canonne 1.
Noisy-le-Sec: Gogov 5, Bjorch 3, Petkovic 2, Bowen 2, Do Carmo 1, Krapic 1, Guerin 1.
The week was opened by the postponed derby of the 15th round, Tourcoing – Noisy. There were a lot of holes in both defenses, so the match turned into a scoring festival with 32 goals. However, Tourcoing’s defense was up to the task in the first quarter and a half, while the attack was excellent, which proved vital for the hosts’ win. The home side led 13:4 in the 14th minute. Noisy-le-Sec started climbing back and dictating the pace. The Parisians reduced the gap to two three and a half minutes before the end when Drasko Gogov scored his fifth goal to make it 15:17. There still was enough time for a big turn. Still, nobody found the net in the remaining time and Tourcoing celebrated an important win.
Today, Noisy-le-Sec welcomed Marseille in the pool in the sports center L’ Odysse in Saint-Denis. The Parisians played in this pool for the first time this season and needed time to “adapt to new water”. Marseille started excellently. It turned out that the good start made the crucial difference. The visitors built a 4:0 lead in the first quarter. Roman Marion Vernoux opened the second quarter with a goal for 5:0 in Marseille’s first possession in this period. Immediately after, Emil Bjorch replied for 1:5. The hosts started coming back, but they couldn’t catch up with Marseille.
The visitors had a 7:1 lead after Andrija Prlainovic converted a penalty in the 14th minute. But Noisy didn’t surrender. The home side finally found its rhythm. Two and a half minutes before the last break, Noisy-le-Sec cut the deficit to only two goals (Bowen for 6:8). Still, Marseille didn’t let the hosts come back. The visitors doubled the advantage to 10:6 with two quick goals (Vernoux and Vukicevic). In the remaining time, the difference was never smaller than three goals.
Tourcoing had a lot of ups and downs in the match against Noisy-le-Sec. It repeated the same in the duel with Sete. Still, Sete isn’t as strong as Noisy, so Tourcoing’s win wasn’t in danger after it took control. Sete led 4:2 in the first and 5:4 early in the second. Tourcoing, led by the Croatian duo, Duje Zivkovic-Marin Dasic, made a 13:2 run for a 17:7 lead and maintained the difference until the final buzzer (21:11). Zivkovic, who debuted for France in the World Cup two weeks ago, scored six, and Dasic four goals.
Pays d’Aix beat Reims 21:11 and strengthened 6th place (which leads to the playoffs). The game was an even contest until 6:6. Then, Pays d’Aix netted six unanswered goals in six minutes, built a 12:6 advantage, and there was no way back for Reims.
Montpellier is still just three points behind Pays d’Aix since it beat Nice 15:8. Nice, which has won only one point so far, surprised Montpellier in the opening minutes. It led 5:3 and 6:4. But, Montpellier tightened its defense after that. It didn’t let a single goal between the 12th and 28th minute. Montpellier produced a 10:0 during these 16 minutes to earn a big 14:6 lead.
1.Marseille 15 games – 43 points
2.Noisy-le-Sec 15 – 34
3. Tourcoing 14 – 30
4. Strasbourg 15 – 29
5.Sete 14 – 20
6.Pays d’Aix 14 – 16
7.Montpelleir 14 – 13
8.Reims 14 – 9
9.Nice 15 – 1
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