The top three ranked teams earned away wins in the 5th round of the French League. Marseille defeated Montpellier, Strasbourg trashed Bordeaux, while Noisy-le-Sec beat Sete.
Pays d’Aix was better than Reims. The most exciting game of the day was a clash of the teams that are in the lower half of the table. The encounter between Nice and Douai ended with no winner – 9:9.
2020/21 French League, Day 5
Montpellier – Marseille 8:10 (1:4, 1:2, 3:3, 3:1)
Montpellier: Mustur 3, Ivankovic 2, Kalinic 1, Delas 1, Spilliaert 1.
Marseille:Crousillat 2, Marion-Vernoux 2, Cuckovic 1, Kovacevic 1, Spaic 1, Vanpeperstraete 1, Vernoux 1, Camarasa 1.
Bordeaux – Strasbourg 9:20 (1:7, 1:4, 3:3, 4:6)
Boredeaux: Gadza 3, Toth 3, Lincheneau 2, Knezevic 1.
Strasbourg: Babic 6, Markovic 3, Buha 3, Culina 3, Cesca 3, Denux 1, Buden 1.
Sete – Noisy-le-Sec 9:13 (1:2, 2:4, 3:5, 3:2)
Sete: Alfonso Pozo 2, Furman 2, Mijuskovic 1, Kopeliadis 1, Lopinot 1,Sauton 1, Chandieu 1.
Noisy-le-Sec: Do Carmo 3, Petkovic 3, Peisson 2 Blary 1, Caumette 1,Marzouki 1,Ait Dahmane 1, Rasovic 1.
Nice – Douai 9:9 (2:2, 0:1, 4:4, 3:2)
Olympic Nice: Colak 3, Butic 2, Mutambayi 1, Canovas 1, Gardikas 1, Cutovic 1.
Douai: Bouet 5, Vitrant 2, Michel 1, Lepoint 1.
Pays d’Aix – Reims 16:5
Tourcoing bye
The match between Montpellier and Marseille was the derby of the day. Marseille dominated the first half, and that was enough for the win. Marseille (which played without Andrija Prlainovic) led 6:2 at halftime. After less than two minutes of play in the third period, Montpellier halved the distance (4:6). Marseille responded with three goals and earned a solid 9:4 advantage. The visitors’ win wasn’t in danger after that.
Sete and Noisy-le-Sec faced off in the outdoor pool in Sete. The hosts kept up with the Parisians until 3:3. In the middle of the second quarter, Noisy produced a 3:0 series and jumped to a 6:3 lead. From then on, the visitors were always in front. In the third quarter, Noisy stretched the margin to five (10:5 and 11:6), and there was no way back for Sete.
Olympic Nice grabbed an early 1:0 and 2:1 lead in the game against Douai. But, Douai took control in the second quarter. They scored three consecutive goals and went 4:2 up. After a long goalless period, the hosts found the net twice midway through the third period for 4:4. Still, shortly after, Douai regained a 2-goal lead (6:4).
Nice equalized twice in the fourth period (7:7 and 8:8), but Douai entered the last minute leading 9:8. However, Nice secured a point. Just seven seconds from time, a Turk Engin Ege Colak (who arrived at Nice from the University Pacific this summer) converted a man-up and scored an equalizer – 9:9 for Nice’s first point in this season.
Strasbourg, led by David Babic (6 goals), cruised to a 20:9 win over Bordeaux. After the 5th round, Bordeaux remains the only team with no points.
As expected, Pays d’Aix had no problems in defeating Reims.
The next round in the French League will be held in two weeks. Today, the national team will gather in Paris and will train in the national training institute until October 23.
1.Marseille 6 – 18
2. Strasbourg 5 – 15
3. Noisy-le-Sec 5 – 13
4. Montpellier 5 – 9
5. Pays d’Aix 4 – 7
6. Douai 4 – 4
7. Tourcoing 4 – 3
8. Sete 5 – 3
9. Reims 5 – 3
10. Nice 4 – 1
11. Boredaux 5 – 0
