After their defeat on March 27 against Nîmes, and for their last championship match, the women from Nice hoped to win this Wednesday against Nantes to maintain their 5th place.
The second part of the season was promising for the red and black team, who managed to create uncertainty at the top of the LFH.
Two draws against top-ranking teams Metz and Fleury-Loiret (currently 2nd and 1st), a victory against Issy-Paris (currently 3rd), OGC Nice seemed unstoppable.
For the opponents, the stakes were high for the Nantes team, who had no choice but to win to avoid the play-downs. And they came close.
The start of the match was promising for the Nice team, with a 3-0 lead after just 1 minute and 25 seconds of play. But the advantage was short-lived.
Once Nantes regained their composure, the two teams were evenly matched throughout the game. Two goalkeepers stepped up during crucial moments (despite the absence of Cléopâtre Darleux), mistakes that proved costly, a united team effort that wasn’t enough to set either team apart, allowing individual talents to shine through, such as Bandelier’s near-perfect performance for Nice (7/8 in 26 minutes of play) or Popovic’s explosiveness (7/12 in 34 minutes of play) which greatly challenged the Nice defense.
While OGC Nice managed to maintain the lead in the first half with a score of 15-13 at halftime, it only took 2 minutes for the Nantes team in the second half to take the lead. The teams chased the score, which never differed by more than 2 goals in the second half. Nantes took the lead in the 42nd minute and blocked the Nice team from regaining it. The match ended with a score of 31-30 and an explosion of joy from the Nantes team.
All that remains for the Nice team are the play-offs to make up for these recent missteps, starting with Metz in early May.
Christelle Del Peschio
