The Stade Niçois suffered their 5th defeat of the season on Albi’s field. The Niçois were defeated 19-9 and handed over the second place to their opponents of the night.
Top clash for this 13th day of the national league. Stade Niçois traveled to the field of Albi. The Niçois remain on a home draw against Bourgoin. A poor performance that didn’t cost them too much. To continue their good momentum, the men of Alexandre Compan wanted to widen the gap with their opponents of the night. They hoped for a misstep from the Narbonne leader to become the leader themselves.
From the start of the match, the Niçois opened the scoring through Mathis Viard. The Niçois kicker allowed his team to score three more points from a penalty. After 14 minutes of play, the visitors led 6-0. The match remained closed and the decision was made by penalties. Mathis Viard scored his third penalty of the match and gave the Niçois a 9-point lead. Albi reduced the gap in the 26th minute with a penalty; despite this return, the locals went into the break with a 6-point deficit. 3-9 to the visitors.
Albi Woke Up
The first half was in favor of the Niçois, but the men from the southwest managed to get control of the ball. After two penalties upon returning from the locker room, the locals equalized and reversed the trend. The break took its toll on Mathis Viard’s teammates. On the back foot, what was bound to happen, happened and Albi scored the first try of the match.
Winger Sean Jack Robinson struck the death blow to the Niçois. After the conversion by the kicker Gilen Queheille, it was Albi who led 16-9 in the 58th minute. Albi controlled the end of the match and secured second place in the standings. The Niçois confirmed their trend of struggling with away games this season.
Next home match on December 16th against Périgourdin.
