Facing a team from Angoulême that is no stranger to the league, OGC Nice handball secured a decisive victory (28-17). At the end of this first day, the Niçoises are leading the D2 championship.
There was no doubt, it was indeed a season opener at the Eucas last night. Between Nice and Angoulême, two teams that know each other very (too?) well, the start was quite scrappy. Perhaps the slightly deflated ball could explain the numerous turnovers and errant passes at the beginning.
In any case, it was necessary to wait until the 3rd minute of the game to see the first shot, executed by Nimetigna Keita. OGC was dominating fruitlessly, playing flat and without taking risks. Initially, the ball was confiscated by the pivot and the backcourt players from the Azurian team: Gomis, Ketkilcova, and Keita.
Alissa Gomis then Marie Desgrolard took turns hitting the posts before the latter opened the scoring in the 6th minute. From then on, the team combined moves joyfully, the Nice side’s crossings became more enthusiastic, overwhelming the visitors’ defense. Although it seemed over at 5-1 at the quarter-hour mark, two penalties, followed by a well-executed counter, brought Angoulême within one goal.
Angoulême decided, under the leadership of their veteran and goalkeeper Halina Lotareva, to become more tenacious (literally and figuratively), similar to the first minutes. Taking advantage of a game pause, Florine M’Bang, who had already been warned twice, gave her instructions: “We need to all defend the same way.” They followed these instructions to the letter and… bingo! In the following action, the referee penalized at the third Nice attack: a two-minute exclusion for the captain Séverine Augustin.
The match could have tipped either way at 5-5, but Marie Olive ended 8 minutes of offensive inefficiency at the right time. The captain and goalkeeper Valérie Nicolas managed to prevent the opponents from taking the lead, even though M’Bang rallied twice to bring her teammates back to within one goal. 10-7 at halftime was not so bad for Angoulême, but it was already too much to hope for a comeback in the match.
Irresistible in the second half
The Nice defense did not make the same mistakes when returning from the locker room. Angoulême was never able to regain its footing, thanks to a Valérie Nicolas who remained imperious in goal. Despite a lost ball at the 7-meter mark or two missiles from Kpodar and Kanté finding her unprotected, the decisive saves (including stopping 3 penalties out of 6) were countless. Meanwhile, Nice capitalized on their actions and forcefully dashed the visitors’ hopes: 15-10 at the 40th minute.
The final minutes turned into a real offensive spectacle under the applause of the spectators. Without the soul of their team, Florine M’Bang, permanently excluded at the 48th minute, the Angoulême players suffered the Nice onslaughts. From 18-12 at her exit, it quickly went to 22-13 four minutes later.
Even though Nice eventually slowed down, this did not detract from the show. Jessica Moriscot scored a magnificent lob to increase the lead to 11 goals (25-14). There was no better result: 28-17 at the end (18 goals for the Gomis, Olive, Keita trio), the Niçoises start this new season under the OGC banner in the best possible way. They lead the standings while awaiting the delayed match between Nantes and Noisy-le-Grand.
