After six consecutive defeats, OGC Nice Handball secured a victory this Friday night against Toulon-St-Cyr with a score of 27-26. This success gives the Nice team a boost and helps them regain lost confidence.
OGC Nice Handball had not won a match for 49 days, which highlights the challenges faced at the start of the season for Sébastien Gardillou’s team. Their last victory was on September 5th, a convincing win against Dijon 33-16 in a match played behind closed doors at the Charles Ehrmann hall.
At home and against a manageable opponent, Toulon St-Cyr, who were 9th before the match, Nice needed to bounce back and prove that their summer recruitment was worthwhile. Without Cléopatre Darleux, still injured in the knee, OGC Nice Handball started the match well and quickly led 3-1 thanks to their captain Alexandra Lacrabère. In this first half, the difference never exceeded two goals (8-6 at the 12th, 13-11 at the 20th). The Nice players went into the break with a small advantage, 16-14. Three players stood out in this first half: Lacrabère with 4 goals, Sy and Pereira Silva Rocha with 3 goals each.
The beginning of the second half was totally in favor of Nice, who took a 6-goal lead by the 35th minute (20-14) driven by an excellent Filipovic. The Varoises managed to limit the damage and maintained a gap of 3 to 5 goals. The last ten minutes were extremely challenging for OGC Nice Handball, who stopped scoring and saw Toulon-St-Cyr dangerously close the gap (25-20 at the 47th, then 25-24 at the 56th). It was the pocket-sized Spaniard, Beatriz Escribano, who ultimately secured the victory by scoring the last two goals for her team, leading to a hard-fought 27-26 win. Although never ahead in the score throughout the match, Toulon-St-Cyr believed until the last minutes but had to concede defeat.
Thanks to this victory and before the last match of the 7th day, Nice has 11 points (2 wins, 5 losses) and is in 7th place, just 2 points away from the 5th place held by Le Havre. OGC Nice Handball will have the opportunity to confirm the victory achieved this Friday night against Nimes (3rd) on Wednesday evening.
