A regular round of the national league hasn’t been held in France in the last seven days because four French clubs have played matches in the European cups.
But, four games have been played since Saturday. Douai and Montpellier have collected valuable points in their attempts to reach the playoffs (the best six teams advance to the playoffs). Both teams defeated Nice. Montpellier secured a win in a very exciting match.
Marseille continued winning, while Sete has surprised Noisy-le-Sec.
2020/21 French League
Day 16
Noisy-le-Sec – Sete 11:11 (1:2, 3:2, 4:3, 3:4)
Noisy-le-Sec : Krapic 4, Petkovic 3, Guerin 1, Hansen 1, Marzouki 1, Rasovic 1.
Sete Natation: Mijuskovic 7, Alfonso Pozo 2, Furman 1, Lopinot 1.
Douai – Nice 15:13 (5:4, 4:2, 2:5, 4:2)
FNC Douai: Bouet 5, Balaz 4, Vitrant 2,Begovic 1, Spooner 1, Blanchard 1, Lepoint 1.
Olympic Nice: Colak 4, Gardikas 4,Canovas 2, De Nardi 1, Cutovic 1, Butic 1.
Day 10
Nice – Montpellier 9:10 (1:2, 3:2, 1:1, 4:5)
Olympic Nice: Bachelier 2, Butic 2, Colak 1, Mutambayi 1, Canovas 1, Gardikas 1, Cutovic 1.
Montpellier: Piot 2, Kalinic 2, D.Zivkovic 2, Spillaert 2, Ivankovic 1, I. Zivkovic 1.
Day 15
Sete – Marseille 7:12 (2:5,2:2, 3:0, 0:5)
Sete Natation: Kopelaidis 3, Alfonso Pozo 1, Mijuskovic 1, Porobic 1, Sauton 1.
CN Marseille: Camarasa 3, Crousillat 2, Vanpeperstraete 1, Izdinsky 1, Prlainovic 1, Vernoux 1, Djurdjic 1, Marion-Vernoux 1, Vukicevic 1
Sete caused a big surprise by earning a point in the match with Noisy-le-Sec, played on Saturday. The Parisians, the hosts in this match, were the favorites. But, Sete fought hard from the beginning. The teams were in a neck-and-neck race in the first half, while it stood 5:5 early in the fourth. Still, Noisy produced a 3:0 rush and gained an 8:5 lead. The hosts regained a 3-goal advantage in the fourth quarter (10:7), but Sete, led by Petar Mijuskovic, caught up with the rival and equalized two minutes from the end – 11:11.
On Wednesday, Sete hosted Marseille, but the home team didn’t make a new surprise. The visiting team opened the match as expected. Midway through the second quarter, Marseille earned a 7:2 lead. But, Sete was able to come back. The hosts scored five goals in a row and equalized (7:7) before the final quarter. However, Sete ran out of gas for the last eight minutes. The visitors consolidated their defense in the fourth quarter, while they netted five unanswered goals and recorded a comfortable 12:7 victory.
Douai defeated Nice in a flood of goals (15:13) on Saturday. Douai led throughout the match. Nice managed to equalize in the third quarter twice (10:10 and 11:11), and in the fourth period once – 12:12. Still, Douai earned a 14:12 advantage shortly after and controlled the match until the end.
Nice has played two matches in the last few days, as well as Sete. But Nice suffered two narrow defeats.
On Wednesday, Montpellier arrived in Nice. Montpellier came out as a winner after a thrilling finish. At halftime, the score was 4:4. Each team scored a goal in the third period, and the rivals entered the final quarter tied (5:5). Montpellier earned an 8:6 lead in the 3rd minute of the fourth quarter, but Nice equalized twice (8:8, 9:9). Just 18 before the end, Ivan Zivkovic converted a man-up for Montpellier’s 10:9 victory.
1 Marseille 13 – 39
2 Strasbourg 13 – 30
3 Noisy-le-Sec 12 – 29
4 Montpellier 14 – 23
5 Tourcoing 13 – 22
6 Douai 12 – 21
7 Pays d’Aix 11 – 18
8 Reims 13 – 10
9 Sete 15 – 8
10 Nice 14 – 8
11 Bordeaux 14 – 0
