Handball. Caen bids Bordeaux and finishes the year in sixth place!

4! Caen Handball had four games since they tasted victory (three draws and one loss). It was getting to be a long time coming for a team that no longer hides its playoff ambitions. Nabil Slassi’s team-mates set things up perfectly against Bordeaux this Wednesday, December 21, as they handed 2,400 supporters their last win of 2022. Caennais was in front of the screen for 60 minutes of the match, a victory that could not be controlled more.

Fire starter

It didn’t take long for the Palais des Sports to warm up. At the beginning of the game, Caennais, led by the very good Yannis Mancelle, quickly took the lead (4-0, 3′). An advantage they did not miss the break. The locals even took a six-goal lead (8-2, 10′) thanks to multiple interceptions by Emilien Deschamps. Frustrated by sometimes controversial refereeing decisions, the Vikings gradually caught up with Bordelais. The guests returned to the game by taking advantage of Kae’s suspension (8-6, 14′). But the Normans, carried by their captain Nabil Slassi, who scored 3 goals in the first 30 minutes, were able to manage a gap that brought them back to the locker room at +4 (17-13). The offensive efficiency will allow Caennais to forget the missed penalties and repeated temporary exclusions in this first period.

Controlled preference

Goalkeeper Teo Gehin, who scored the goal at the beginning of the game, allowed his teammates to stay in the game. When returning from the dressing room (19-17, 37′), the abusive “reds” could rely on their last castles to stay ahead. Performing well in the cage, Theo Gehin quickly regained the confidence of his teammates. The best scorer (5 goals, 71%), pivot Jordan Allais allowed the team to restore a comfortable advantage that seemed unattainable (28-21, 50′). Led by speaker Pierre Szonn, who was fired up for the evening, the room lit up for the last time when Ryad Lakbi scored into an empty net after a high pass (34-26, 58′). Caennais therefore ended the year with a convincing victory over Bordeaux (36-27), a direct challenger for the famous sixth place.

A turning point that promises to be exciting

Thanks to this victory, Caennais promises supporters a fascinating comeback. After a month-long hiatus for the 2023 World Handball Championship from January 11-29, the Vikings will look to finish sixth in the standings and make the crucial playoffs to enter the Star League (division 1 handball). The top five teams already seem to have created a tough gap to fill, but you never know… Roch Bedos’s side could rely on the gradual return of excellent left-back Mathias Créteau (a victim of the Crusaders last season) to reach this level. mission.

Reaction

Roch Bedos (Caen Handball coach): “We had two goals tonight. Take that sixth place synonymous with the playoffs alone and survive our last defeat to give our wonderful community a final victory in 2022. We achieved both, and I’m very happy about that. This builds on all the work done since the start of the season. We managed to overcome our fatigue to get these points. I have a very hardworking, very homogeneous group. We saw tonight, it’s a team victory, everyone brought their stone to the building. Now with 2023, I want to be ambitious, even a little more than this year. We had a good first part of the season thanks to a great start and a new era of young players responding. February has been tough with three trips, but we have to get through it if we want to achieve our goals. The most important thing for the upcoming matches is to stay humble. »

Brand

Caen: Vedie 2, Allais 5, Mancelle 3, Ermolenko 4, Deschamps 3, Crépel 1, Jullian 2, Abily 0, Pereira 5, Coudert 1, Poirot 2, Lacby 3, Slassi 4. GB: Santos (0/1) and Gehin ( 9/33)

Bordeaux: Asabina 1, Postel 1, Clarac 0, Guibert 0, Guiraudou 1, Damiani 3, Gutfreund 5, Minne 4, Furlan 4, Strickland 0, Contiero 2, Zammit 2, Herrero 0. GB: Vekic (1/8) and Gurskis ( 8/35)

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