Olympic Nice Natation hosted Montpellier Water Polo this Saturday evening at Jean Bouin for their first championship match. The Nice water polo players easily won, in their pool, 9 goals to 5.
Samuel Nardon’s men set the tone from the start of the match. In their very first attack, the Nice players scored the first goal thanks to Matthias Bachelier. With good defense and Rémi Garsau, who made several saves, ONN maintained the lead in the early minutes. Then, the Montpellier side got into the game and logically equalized in the 4th minute. The Hérault team defended well at the end of the first period. Despite this, the Nice water polo players took the lead thanks to Arthur Bruyère and led 2 goals to 1.
At the start of the second period, Samuel Nardon’s protégés defended well and repelled Montpellier’s offensives, once again well supported by Rémi Garsau. Eventually, Montpellier caught up with Nice a few moments later. At this point in the game, the score was 2-2. It didn’t change until halftime. Indeed, both goalkeepers made important saves and both teams defended well.
In the third period, ONN quickly regained the advantage with a goal by Michal Izdinsky to lead 3-2. Despite good defense and a stellar performance by Rémi Garsau (7 decisive saves), the Montpellier players came back once again, leaving the score at 3-3. There were 2’30 left to play in the third period. At that point in the match, the Nice team started to free themselves and play better and better. They then scored a fourth and a fifth goal. At the end of the third quarter, ONN led 5 to 3.
The Nice water polo players managed to maintain their two-goal lead at the start of the fourth and final quarter. They led 6-4 then 7-5 after two minutes of play in this last period. They were not going to be caught by the Montpellier side and even went on to widen the gap. Indeed, at the end of the match, Samuel Nardon’s men added two more goals, notably thanks to Michal Izdinsky (three goals in total). Thus, ONN eventually won 9 goals to 5 against Montpellier Water Polo. A first victory that allows the Nice club to perfectly kick off their season.
