The highlight of the 2nd round of the 121st French Championship was an encounter between LEN Euro Cup winner and reigning champion Strasbourg. Marseille, the runner-up in the previous season of the national championship, recorded a 12:9 win.
French League, Day 2
Marseille – Strasbourg 12:9 (5:1, 1:2, 3:4, 3:2)
Marseille : Blary 2, , Marion-Vernoux 2, Crousillat 2, Vukicevic 2, Camarasa 1, Kovacevic 1, Djurdjic 1, Vernoux 1.
Strasbourg : Markovic 3, Bratic 2, Denux 1, Begovic 1, Letica 1, Sutic 1.
Montpellier –Reims 16:12 (5:3, 3:1, 5:2, 3:6)
Montpellier WP : Kalinic 7, Ivankovic 4, D. Zivkovic. 1, Delas 2, Mustur 1, Spilliaert 1.
Stade de Reims : Balaz 3, Krivokapic 3, Missy 2, Caraj 2, De Bie 1, Andelic 1.
Noisy-le-Sec –Douai 13:6 (5:3, 0:2, 4:0, 4:1)
CN Noisy-le-Sec : Petkovic 5, Pliskevich 2, Pesteric 2, Sterling 1, Peisson 1, Marzouki 1, Kolarik 1.
FNC Douai : Rocchietta 3, Muller 2, Vandamme 1.
Olympic Nice –Tourcoing 11:10 (3:2, 2:3, 3:5, 3:0)
Olympic Nice Natation : Caumette 5, Butic 4, Bachelier 1, Bosazzi 1.
EN Tourcoing Lille : Krisman 3, Kujacic 2, Vincourt 1, Papapostolou 1, Randjic 1, Crosetti 1, Koopman 1.
Pays d’Aix – Sete 17:6
Marseille, the most decorated French water polo team (37 national titles) was a host of the derby. The home team earned a 5:1 advantage. In the third period, Marseille again built a 4-goal lead (7:3 and 8:4), before Strasbourg started climbing back. After just 27 seconds of play in the fourth quarter, Strasbourg finally came close to the hosts and reduced the deficit to 1 (8:9). But, Marseille responded with three goals in a row and jumped to a big 12:8 lead with two minutes and three seconds to go. There was no time for a new comeback. Marseille defeated the big rival by three goals (12:9).
Besides Marseille, three teams have collected 6 points each in the first two rounds: Pays d’Aix, Montpellier and Noisy-le-Sec.
Pays d’Aix demolished Sete (17:6) to climb into the first place of the table.
Noisy-le-Sec defeated Douai. At halftime, the score was 5:5. Noisy dominated the second half and, led by Antonio Petkovic, achieved a 7-goal victory (13:6).
Uros Kalinic (7 goals) and Marko Ivankovic (4) were the heroes in Montpellier’s win over Stade de Reims 16:12.
The most interesting match of the day was an encounter between Nice and Tourcoing, played in Nice. Tourcoing had a 10:7 lead in the finish of the 3rd quarter, but the hosts nailed 4 unanswered goals in the remaining time for an 11:10 victory. David Caumette (5 goals) and Kresimir Butic (4) led Nice towards the 1st win in the season.
1 Pays d’Aix 2 – 6
2 Marseille 2 – 6
3 Noisy-le-Sec 2 – 6
4 Montpellier 2 – 6
5 Strasbourg 2 – 3
6 Nice 2 – 3
7 Tourcoing 2 – 0
8 Douai 2 – 0
9 Reims 2- 0
10 Sete 2 – 0
