The “Maurice Thorez” pool in Montreuil, the eastern suburb of Paris, was a venue of the derby match of Day 4 of the French League. Noisy-le-Sec hosted Tourcoing Lille in Montreuil. The home side won the points with a 15:10 victory.
Strasbourg defeated Douai 15:12. Reims collected its first points in the season by beating Nice.
Three teams are still undefeated. Marseille and Strasbourg keep a perfect record. Titleholder Strasbourg recorded four wins in as many games. Marseille has 15 points. The Champions League wildcard-holder played two matches this weekend, and posted two convincing wins (over Sete in the 4th round and over Douai in the game of Day 10). Noisy-le-Sec is also undefeated and has 10 points (three wins and a draw)
2020/21 French League, Day 4
Strasbourg – Douai 15:12 (4:1, 6:4, 2:5, 3:2)
Team Strasbourg: Markovic 4, Buha 4, Valentino 3, Misic 2, Buden 1, Babic 1.
Douai: Bouet 3, Spooner 3, Vitrant 2, Vandamme 1, Lepoint 1, Balaz 1, Michel 1.
Noisy-le-Sec – Tourcoing 15:10 (5:3, 3:2, 3:4, 4:1)
Noisy-le-Sec: Marzouki 5, Petkovic 3, Rasovic 3, Krapic 2, Peisson 2.
Tourcoing Lille: Rocchieta 3, Krisman 2, Randjic 2, Kujacic 1, Crosetti 1, Grgurevic 1.
Nice – Reims 8:9 (2:1, 1:3, 3:3, 2:2)
Olympic Nice: Gardikas 3, Bachelier 2, Canovas 1, Bosazzi 1, Cutovic 1.
Stade de Reims: Kovacic 4, Calic 4, Krivokapic 1.
Marseille – Sete 14:6 (5:1, 2:1, 5:2, 2:2)
Marseille: Camarasa 4, Izdinsky 2, Olivon 1, Spaic 1, Crousillat 1, Djurdjic 1, Marion-Vernoux 1, Vukicevic 1, Vernoux 1, Vanpeperstraete 1.
Sete: Alfonso Pozo 2, Porobic 2, Beteille 1, Chandieu 1.
Montpellier – Bordeaux 10:8 (1:2, 4:4, 1:0, 4:2)
Montpellier: Kalinic 3, I. Zivkovic 3, Mustur 2, Piot 1, Vasseur 1.
Bordeaux:Cathudal 2, Toth 2, Linchenau 2, Gadza 1, Cohat 1.
Pays d’Aix bye
Tourcoing started quite well the match against Noisy. The visitors needed less than five minutes to build a 3:1 lead. But, after that, they couldn’t score for almost ten minutes. Noisy, led by Mehdi Marzouki (5 goals), produced a 6:0 rush and made a substantial 4-goal difference (7:3) in the 12th minute. Tourcoing put a lot of effort into a comeback. Still, that wasn’t enough. The visitors reduced the gap to two goals (5:7, 6:8, 7:9,8:10, 9:11), but the Parisians controlled the match and didn’t let Tourcoing go further.
As expected, Montpellier defeated newcomer Bordeaux, but the former champion found it hard to collect all three points. The match saw a lot of twists and turns. Bordeaux stunned Montpellier in the opening minutes. The visiting team earned a 2:0 lead, and the hosts their first goal scored 22 seconds before the first break. Bordeaux opened the second quarter with an early goal for 3:1. Montpellier responded with three goals within two minutes to go ahead (4:3), but Bordeaux managed to turn around the result. The visitors entered the third period with a 6:5 advantage. Montpellier scored the only goal in the third quarter, so the teams were tied at 6:6 before the fourth quarter. The hard battle was continued after the last break. In the second minute of the final period, Bordeaux regained the lead (8:7). But, the hosts scored three unanswered goals in the remaining time and celebrated the win
Reigning champion Strasbourg defeated Douai. The first half of the match was crucial for Strasbourg’s win. The hosts led 10:5 at halftime. After the middle break, Douai started climbing back. The visiting side cut the deficit to two goals (8:10, 9:11, 10:12), but nothing more than that. Pavo Markovic and Antonio Buha scored more than half of the goals for the home team. Each of them found the net four times.
Nice and Reims were in a neck and race throughout the match. But, Reims dictated the pace. Still, the visitors’ lead was never larger than two goals. Early in the fourth period, Nice equalized for the last time. Gardikas converted a penalty for 7:7. However, Reims quickly responded with two goals (Kovacic and Calic) – 9:7 and that proved vital for their win. Reims recorded its first win in the season, while Nice is still with no points.
Match of Day 10
Marseille – Reims 15:1 (7:0, 3:1, 3:0, 2:0)
Marseille: Spaic 4, Vukicevic 3, Crousillat 2, Marion-Vernoux 2, Olivion 2, Vanpeperstraete 1, Vernoux 1.
Reims: Krivokapic 1,
Marseille and Reims played two matches this weekend. The clubs agreed to play the match of the 10th round today.
The hosts showed no mercy to its opponent and ran over Reims, which scored just one goal. Marseille played without Andrija Prlainovic in both this weekend’s matches.
1.Marseille 5 – 15
2.Strasbourg 4 – 12
3. Noisy-le-Sec 4 – 10
4. Montpellier 4 – 9
5. Pays d’Aix 3 – 3
6. Tourcoing 4 – 3
7. Sete 4 – 3
8. Douai 3 – 3
9. Reims 4 – 3
10. Nice 3 – 0
11. Bordeaux 4 – 0
