This 20th day of the Ligue Butagaz Energie will be a milestone in the OGC Nice handball season. On the court of Plan-de-Cuques, the team from Nice did not maintain their good form and suffer a significant setback in the race for the podium and Europe.
It was a bad evening for OGC Nice Handball. After an easy victory at home against Besançon last weekend, the players of Sébastien Mizoule needed to confirm this evening. In Plan-de-Cuques, the Maralpines arrived with full confidence and as favorites. However, tonight the necessary ingredients were missing. The start of the match was sluggish. The Nice team owed their salvation to Marie-Hélène Sajka, who scored the first three goals for her team. OGC Nice handball held on until fifteen minutes into the game. Then HBPC went on to have two periods of play that were fatal to the Azuréennes. Adding to this was the outstanding performance of the championship’s top scorer Nele Antonissen (9 goals), making things much more complicated.
On the other side, the two attacking leaders of the Azuréennes did their best but it wasn’t enough. At halftime, Nice was logically trailing (16-13) but all did not seem lost.
In the second half, the Provençales managed to widen the gap. One by one, the substitutes managed to breach the Maralpines’ defense. During brief phases of play, the Nice team was overwhelmed and failed to respond. The score increased to +7 fifteen minutes before the end. Although Marine Dupuis tried to start a comeback by scoring three goals in two minutes, it was too late.
The players of OGC Nice eventually gave in and were defeated with a heavy score (35-27). A defeat that hurts on the ranking front as the Nice team is now 5th in the standings with one game ahead of their direct pursuers. Currently two points away from the European spots, the Azuréennes must await the results of Chambray and Dijon.
All is not lost, but a reaction is mandatory in two weeks at home against Saint-Amand who does not have much left to play for this season. We should see things a bit more clearly after this match as we head into the final sprint.
