The 18th round of the French League didn’t lack excitement.
The most thrilling match of the day was an encounter between the clubs that are based in the Nord department in northern France, bordering Belgium. FNC Douai hosted Tourcoing Lille. The match ended in an 11:11 draw, and the hero of the game was Douai’s goalkeeper Istvan Gergely Kardos who scored an equalizer in the last second.
Favorites Noisy-le-Sec and Pays d’Aix recorded comfortable victories. Sete downed Reims easily than expected – 11:5 and climbed into 9th place.
2020/21 French League, Day 18
Douai – Tourcoing 11:11 (3:4, 4:2, 2:3, 2:2)
FNC Douai: Balaz 3, Michel 2, Vitrant 2, Lepoint 2, Bouet 1, Kardos 1.
Tourcoing Lille: Randjic 3, Kujacic 2, Rocchietta 2, Grgurevic 1, Vincourt 1, Canonne 1, Krissman 1.
Reims – Sete 5:11 (2:4, 0:2, 2:3, 1:2)
Reims: Pesteric 2, Calic 2, Kovacic 1.
Sete: Furman 5, Mijuskovic 3, Kopelaidis 1, Alfonso Pozo 1, Aquila 1.
Noisy-le-Sec – Bordeaux 17:7 (5:3, 7:1, 1:1, 4:2)
Noisy-le-Sec: Peison 4, Petkovic 4, Blary 2, Do Carmo 2, V.Rasovic 2, Caumette 1, Bjorch 1, Marzouki 1,
Bordeaux:Toth 3, Gadza 1, Knezevic 1, Perrin 1, Cathudal 1.
Nice – Pays d’Aix 9:17 (1:5, 1:6, 4:3, 3:3)
Olympic Nice: Colak 3, Butic 2, Cakic 2, Bachelier 1, De Nardi 1.
Pays d’Aix: Dino 5, Gagulic 4, Popadic 3, Monnerret 3, Khasz 1, Djerkovic 1.
Strasbourg – Marseille postponed to April 4
Montpellier bye
The encounter between Douai and Tourcoing has been one of the most important matches in the battle for the spots in the playoffs (among the top six teams). Since the teams shared the points, Tourcoing remains in 6th and Douai in 7th place. Tourcoing has one point more, but it also played one match more than Douai.
Tourcoing took an early 3:0 lead, but Douai recovered from the opening shock and started climbing back. Deep into the second quarter, the hosts went ahead for the first time (6:5). Douai dictated the pace and kept the minimal advantage for a while. Late into the third, Douai had a 9:8 advantage. But, the visitors leveled the score 37 seconds before the last break. Defenses did their jobs well in the first six minutes of the last period. The first goal in the final period was scored in the 30th minute – Drazen Kujacic put Tourcoing in front. Cedric Rocchietta doubled the visitors’ advantage (11:9) with just 58 seconds remaining on the clock. But, the high-scoring thriller wasn’t over yet. Steven Vitrant scored for 10:11 (36 seconds before the end). Tourcoing had a chance to secure a win in the next possession, but Douai’s goalkeeper Gergely Istvan Kardos saved a shot from Goran Grgurevic. After that, Kardos joined his teammates in the attack and beat the buzzer. He found the net from a distance for 11:11 in the last second of the match.
Noisy-le-Sec beat Bordeaux with ease. Bordeaux hasn’t won a single point since the start of the season.
Pays d’Aix enjoyed a great evening in Nice. Pays d’Aix downed Nice with an 11:2 rush in the first half of the match, which put the visitors on the right track. Guillaume Dino led Aix with five goals, Andro Gagulic added four.
Something similar happened in Reims. Sete built a 6:2 lead by the middle break. The visitors added a goal early in the third for 7:2 and Reims couldn’t recover after that.
The derby Marseille – Strasbourg has been postponed due to corona cases at Strasbourg.
1 Marseille 14 – 42
2 Noisy-le-Sec 14 – 33
3 Strasbourg 13 – 30
4 Pays d’Aix 13 – 24
5 Montpellier 15 – 24
6 Tourcoing 15 – 23
7 Douai 14 – 22
9 Sete 16 – 11
8 Reims 14 – 10
10 Nice 15 – 8
11 Bordeaux 16 – 0
