The women from Nice have one foot in the semifinals after their 24-19 victory on Besançon’s field, thanks to 21 saves by Cléopâtre Darleux. The return match will take place on Friday at Charles-Ehrmann.
OGC Nice Handball has never been this close to a first semifinal in the Women’s League. Ten days after the League Cup final (a 25-20 defeat against Fleury-Loiret), Sébastien Gardillou’s team confirmed their good form against an opponent who was coming off a win (29-26 on February 27th).
Nice never let go of the lead
This is what it means to take the match by the right end. Despite more than three minutes without scoring, Nice created an initial gap at the quarter-hour mark (5-2) thanks to three goals by Béatrice Edwige. The Besançon team tried to close in at the end of the first half (9-5), but Kouyaté and Edwige scored their second and fourth goals. At the end of the first 30 minutes, Nice led (9-7).
A wall named Darleux
If OGC Nice Handball is leading, it owes it to its goalkeeper, international Cléopâtre Darleux, who made 12 saves in the first half and 21 in total out of 37 shots, an exceptional percentage of 56%. After halftime, the women from Nice accelerated and scored a 4-0 against Besançon, boosted by the Knutsdottir-Rocha duo (13-7, 36th minute). The gap then stabilized between 4 and 5 goals (16-11, 41st minute then 19-15, 48th minute and 23-18, 57th minute) with the valuable contribution of Hungarian Agnes Hornyak (3 goals with a 75% success rate) in the last ten minutes.
Defending a 5-goal lead on Friday
With 9 players + 2 goalkeepers on the match sheet (Lacrabère and Sy unavailable), Nice put on a performance with a capital “P” and can approach the return match this Friday with heightened confidence, without thinking about the possible semifinal against Metz. To achieve this, they just need to win or not lose by more than 5 goals.
By Clément Bigois and Jordan Perronneau
