France

Dinan Power and the triumph of the French team (TdV) #LigueDesOpensMoreSport

by
Christophe Hinneman

Published in 11 October 2022

The Velay Tournament 2022 is over ! The second stage of the Ligue des Opens More-Sport finished on October 9th. Let’s take a look at the performances of the weekend.

Pool A :

In the Pool A preview, we mentioned the new standing of the Dinan men’s team and the necessity of making them respect it. The Bretons responded perfectly ! The beginning of the competition was, as usual, complicated with a draw against Pontoise (2-2) and a loss against Fontenay (3-1). The Dinannais got back on track on Sunday by beating the Masters M (7-0). Then, they met Fontenay in the semi-final. The Dinannais showed their ability to finish their actions to win 5-2 with XXL performances from Edouard Crolotte and Pierre-Alban Lalys.

In the other semi-final, Moirans beat a young Pontoise team (5-0). The Moirans team was impressive and won all their matches until the final. A very tight and intense final with a lot of fouls committed by both sides. Except that the more fouls are committed, the harder they are punished. With less than 3 minutes to go, a Moirans player was given a two minute penalty. On the following action, a penalty shot is conceded and Dinan did not let this opportunity pass to score the 1-0. They will hold on until the end and win their second consecutive league stage after last year’s final.

Ranking of the stage and general ranking :

1- Dinan (23 pts)

2- Moirans (19 pts)

3- Fontenay (16 pts)

4- Pontoise (14 pts)

5- Pessac (12 pts)

Pool B :

In pool B, the show was on during the semi-finals which both ended in sudden death ! The first one was between the French Elite Women’s team and the Squale Team. The Elites quickly took the lead but Neuilly managed to equalise thanks to Oscar Tafler a few minutes before the end of the match. Despite the temporary exclusions of several Squales, Neuilly managed to hold on and hang on to the sudden death which they started with three players against four French players. Obviously with a numerical advantage, the players of Jacques Bréchaire dominate. They finally managed to score and win their place in the final.

The other semi-final was between Ndead and Occitan Warriors. It was a spectacular game with six goals scored in regular time. Ndead dominated the start of the game, leading 1-0 and then 2-1. The Occitan Warriors took the lead at 3-2 but this time it was Clermont that responded by equalising and going into sudden death. It was the Auvergnats who came out on top after a great move down the left conclued by Charles Rebour.

An epic match that must have had consequences for the physical capacities of Clermont, because in the final, the French Elite women’s team totally dominated them to win 7-0 and win this stage in Puy-en-Velay.

Ranking of the stage :

1- French Elite Women Team (23 pts)

2- Ndead (19 pts)

3- Squale Team (16 pts)

4- Occitan Warriors (14 pts)

5- La Rochelle (12 pts)

6- Lagny (10 pts)

7- Equipe de France Master féminine (9 pts)

8- Lyon (8 pts)

General league ranking :

1- Occitan Warriors (30 pts) – 2 stages played

2- French Elite Women Team / Hyères (23 pts)

3- Ndead / Lyon (22 pts) – 2 stages played

4- Vulcains (19 pts)

5- Squale Team (16 pts)

6- La Rochelle / Pessac 2 (12 pts)

7- Lagny (10 pts)

8- Equipe de France Master féminine (9 pts)

Group C :

Both for the boys and the girls, Dinan performed like never before ! Only D1 team present with Le Chesnay, the Breton team, composed only of 3 « pure » Dinan players, quickly managed to take advantage of its collective composed of young U17 players coached by Laurent Giacomello, as well as Camila Aponte, a Colombian player. After winning all their group matches, Dinan continued their run by beating Le Chesnay in the semi-final. A hard-fought 2-1 win secured them first place overall. The loss in the final (3-0) against a French Elite 2 team (downgraded) reinforced with players from the team 1 is also a source of promise for this team.

Ranking of the stage and general ranking :

1- Dinan F (23 pts)

2- Le Chesnay (19 pts)

3- Baby Girls (16 pts)

4- Neuilly-Clamart (14 pts)

5- Lagny F (12 pts)

6- Diderot XII (10 pts)

7- Les Rascasses (9 pts)