The 12th round of the French League brought a new big derby. Pays d’Aix and reigning champion Strasbourg have faced off in Aix en Provence. After a hard battle, Pays d’Aix celebrated an 8:7 win.
Marseille beat Nice (9:5). There were a lot of thrills in Lille, where Tourcoing edged out Douai 13:12.
French League 2019/20, Day 12
Pays d’Aix – Strasbourg 8:7 (2:1, 2:1, 1:2, 3:3)
Pays d’Aix: Monneret 3, Gluhaic 2, Khasz 1, Espanol 1, De Lera 1.
Strasbourg: Letica 2, Begovic 1, Jablonski 1, Babic 1, Culina 1, Bratic 1.
Nice – Marseille 5:9 (1:3, 1:1, 3:2, 0:3)
Nice: Bachelier 1, Butic 1, Cakic 1, Canovas 1, Cutovic 1.
Marseille: Crousillat 3, Marion-Vernoux 2, Vanpeperstraete 1, Olivon 1, Izdinsky 1, Djurdjic 1.
Noisy-le-Sec – Reims 12:6 (2:1, 4:2, 3:3, 3:0)
Noisy-le-Sec: Marzouki 4, Bjorch 2, Peisson 2, Petkovic 1, Pliskevich 1,Pesteric 1, Kolarik 1.
Reims: Lambert 1, Krivokapic 1, Caraj 1, Vix 1, Bielik 1, Balaz 1.
Tourcoing – Douai 13:12 (3:3, 2:3, 3:2, 5:4)
Tourcoing: Randjic 7, Kujacic 3, Grgurevic 1, Nispeling 1, Koopman 1.
Douai: Bouet 5, Vitrant 2, Muller 2, Canonne 2, Spooner 1.
Montpellier – Sete 14:7 (2:1, 4:1, 5:3,3:2)
Montpellier: Ivanovic 5, Kalinic 3, Piot 2, Delas 2, Vasseur 1,D. Zivkovic 1.
Sete: Mantion 2, Avena 2, Rustamov 1, Furman 1, Chandieu 1.
Pays d’Aix earned a 4:2 lead in the first half of the derby against Strasbourg. The visitors leveled the score with two goals in 23 seconds, midway through the 3rd period (4:4). Maroje Gluhaic gave the home team a 5:4 lead 51 seconds before the last break. Early in the fourth quarter, Ruben De Lera doubled the hosts’ advantage (6:4), while Albert Espanol converted a penalty in the 26th minute and Pays d’Aix went 7:4 up. Still, Strasbourg was able to come back. Boris Letica equalized – 7:7 two and a half minutes before the end. However, Monneret responded immediately for 8:7 and Pays d’Aix maintained a minimal advantage until the end.
Pays d’Aix kept 1st place, but it has played one match more than 2nd-placed Marseille.
Marseille needed a lot of time to break Nice. Marseille led 3:1 and 4:2, but Nice managed to come back. The hosts trailed 5:6 before the final eight minutes. But, they ran out of gas for the fourth quarter, and Marseille recorded a 9:5 victory.
Tourcoing stays in 3rd place, after a 13:12 victory over Douai. Tourcoing was a favorite in this match, but it had to overcome a lot of troubles to collect points. Douai had a 6:5 advantage after the second quarter and it still was ahead in the last minute of the third quarter (8:7). Eighteen seconds before the last break, the Lille-based side leveled the score (8:8). Tourcoing added three goals in a row in the first three minutes of the fourth period and jumped to an 11:8 lead. But, a big battle wasn’t over yet. Douai caught the rival in the 31st minute (12:12). Still, Drazen Kujacic converted a man-up 69 seconds from the end for Tourcoing’s 13:12 victory.
Serb Miroslav Randjic was unstoppable again. He scored seven goals for Tourcoing. Alexandre Bouet netted five goals for Douai.
