The 8th round of the French Championships offered a lot of thrills. Tiny details were decisive in two derby games.
Marseille and Noisy-le-Sec, the only two unbeaten teams after seven rounds and the finalists of the playoffs in the previous two seasons, faced off in Marseille. The hosts recorded a narrow 11:10 victory and kept a perfect record.
Sete welcomed Tourcoing. This was a match for history. After four quarters, the score was 12:12, and the game continued with a penalty shootout. There were 39 goals in the shootout! Sete and emerged as a winner in this marathon – 32:31 (20:19 PSO).
2022/23 French League, Day 8
Marseille – Noisy-le-Sec 11:10 (2:3, 3:2, 3:1, 3:4)
Marseille: Crousillat 3, Spaic 3, Marion-Vernoux 2, Izdinsky 1, Vukicevic 1, Bouet 1.
Noisy-le-Sec (Cercle 93): Petkovic 3, Gogov 2, Do Carmo 2, Bowen 2, Saudadier 1.
Sete – Tourcoing 32:31 (3:3, 2:5, 5:1, 2:3, PSO 20:19)
Sete: Furman 8, Randjic 7, Tomic 5, Chandieu 5, Sauton 4, Vujovic 2, Lopinot 1.
Tourcoing: Dasic 7, D.Zivkovic 7, Durik 5, Draskovic 4, Marzouki 4, Canonne 4,
Nice – Montpellier 4:13 (0:2, 2:2, 2:4, 0:5)
Olympic Nice: Mathieu 1, De Nardi 1, Sigwalt 1,Irmes 1.
Montpellier: Ivankovic 7, Piot 2, Dory 2, Mustur 1, Kalinic 1.
Reims- Pays d’Aix 6:10 (2:1, 1:5, 3:0, 0:4)
Stade Reims: Missy 3, Bulat 2, Culina 1.
Pays d’Aix: Dunstan 2, Peisson 2, Rocchietta 2, Strkalj 1, Drahe 1, Pirat 1, Vrdoljak 1.
Strasbourg bye
Rescheduled match, played earlier this week
Team Strasbourg – Noisy-le-Sec 7:10 (3:2, 0:2, 3:4, 1:2)
Strasbourg : Canovas 2, Vitrant 2, Petkovic 2, Popadic 1.
Noisy-le-Sec (Cercle 93) : Petkovic 3, Bowen 2, Krapic 2. Saudadier 1, Do Carmo 1, Gogov 1,
Noisy-le-Sec arrived in Marseille, encouraged by an away victory over Strasbourg in the rescheduled match played earlier this week. But, Marseille kept a perfect record after a colossal battle. The visiting team was a better rival in the first quarter and a half. In the middle of the second period, the Parisians earned a 5:3 lead and kept that advantage for a while. Still, Marseille netted two action goals in the last 50 seconds of the first half (Izdinsky and Marion-Vernoux), so the teams were in the same starting line before the third quarter – 5:5.
Marseille scored the first goal in the third period. Marion Vernoux made it 6:5 in the 22nd minute, but Alex Bowen immediately equalized from a penalty shot. However, the finish of the quarter belonged to the hosts, just like in the previous period. Bouet scored for 7:6, and Ugo Crousillat beat the buzzer. Just a second before the last break, he hit the back of the net and Marseille earned a 2-goal lead for the first time.
Vladan Spaic extended the margin to three (9:6) early in the fourth quarter, and it seemed that Marseille had taken control. Still, Noisy was able to come back. It cut the deficit to one goal twice (8:9 and 9:10). Petkovic leveled at 10:10 from a penalty in the 30th minute. But, Marseille took all three points. Ante Vukicevic found the net for 11:10 with 70 seconds left on the clock. Noisy couldn’t level after that.
Tourcoing, one of the favorites this season, still hasn’t found its rhythm. It won only a point in Sete and dropped to 5th place in the table. Until the middle of the third quarter, Tourcoing was on the right track. The favorite had even a 9:5 lead early in the second half. But, Sete responded with a 6:0 run. They turned around a big deficit to an 11:9 lead (25th minute). Tourcoing started coming back, after Marzouki found the net for 10:11. Still, the hosts regained a 2-goal lead. Tourcoing secured the point with two goals from Marin Dasic (29th and 30th minute). There were no goals in the last two minutes.
The regular time produced a 12:12 score, and a penalty shootout decided the winner. It was probably one of the longest penalty shootouts in the history of water polo. The winner was decided after 22 rounds of shots! There were not many misses and saves. Finally, in the 22nd round, Furman scored for 32:31. At the other end of the pool, the hosts’ goalkeeper Joubert saved a shot from Zivkovic and Sete won two points.
Montpellier defeated Nice convincingly – 13:4. This game was a one-man show. Mario Ivankovic led Montpellier with seven goals. The visitors dictated the pace from the beginning and earned an early 3:0 and 4:1 lead. At halftime, Nice trailed by two goals – 2:4, but Montpellier opened the second half with a 4:0 rush, jumped to 8:2 and everything was decided.
The game Reims – Pays d’Aix was a real rollercoaster. Both teams had ups and downs, but Pays d’Aix saved more energy for the finish and won all three points. Reims earned a slim 2:1 lead in the first quarter, but Pays d’Aix took control in the second period and entered the third quarter leading 6:3. However, Reims “woke up”. The hosts dominated the third period to level at 6:6. Still, Pays d’Aix had an excellent finish. The visitors scored four unanswered goals in the fourth period and celebrated a 10:6 victory.
1.Marseille 8 – 24
2. Noisy-le-Sec 7 – 17
3. Strasbourg 7 – 11
4. Sete 7 – 11
5. Tourcoing 7 – 10
6. Montpellier 7 – 9
7. Stade Reims 7 – 7
8. Pays d’Aix 7 – 7
9. Nice 7 – 0
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