To recall the latest results, the Boxers (3rd in the standings) remain on a series of three consecutive victories before the government announcements, while the Hormadi, which points to seventh place, obtained a convincing success at the Barre against the Gothic d ‘Amiens (5-2) on October 16. There is no doubt that despite the absence of their home crowd and two important players on each side, each of the two teams will do their utmost to deliver another great derby on the ice of Bordeaux.
Absent Bordeaux: Loik Poudrier – Jules Gallet.
Absent Anglet: Guillaume Beaudoin – Lukas Kaspar.
| Photographer: Johanna Lawrence |
The goalkeeper duel unsurprisingly pits Clément Fouquerel against Antoine Bonvalot.
The long-awaited derby starts off very strongly with the two top scorers from each team (Andrew Johnston and Oskars Batna) lined up on the front row. Antoine Bonvalot repels Andrew Johnston’s first big shot. Louis Bélisle and Jules Lefebvre also came up against the experienced Hormadi goalkeeper who immediately entered his match.
On the other side, Clément Fouquerel made a decisive save against Benjamin Bérard. The first numerical superiority, for the visitors (1’43) offers a very interesting offensive play confirmed by Nicolas Arrossamena who throws on the right thinking to find the deviation of a partner in the cage, or Lionel Tarantino failing very little in front of Clément Fouquerel. The two goalkeepers continue their series of saves in turn: Antoine Bonvalot on a throw from Robin Lamboley, then Clément Fouquerel on two shots from Jiri Hunkes and Louis Vitou. The Hormadi seems to be more dangerous offensively at mid-period after another shot from Sébastien Gauthier but nothing has happened so far.
The Boxers are having difficulty containing the opposing assaults which are repeated more and more regularly; they can count on a very solid Clément Fouquerel. The Basque attacking game, very fast, always causes enormous danger within the Bordeaux defensive lines. During Bordeaux’s first numerical superiority, after several interesting opportunities, Gabriel Desjardins offered himself a face to face against Antoine Bonvalot, finally won by the goalkeeper of the Hormadi. The offensive intentions are not lacking during this first act, the defenses do a very big job to prevent their team from conceding this first goal. Clément Fouquerel made two difficult saves on occasions from Louis Vitou and Nicolas Arrossamena. Louis Bélisle will have twice the opportunity to open the scoring in the final seconds without managing to materialize. The two teams therefore end this first period with a goalless draw.
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| Photographer: Johanna Lawrence |
The Boxers start this second period in numerical superiority for 1’13. The first opportunity, signed Alexandre Mulle, is the conclusion of a very good work of the trio Louis Bélisle – Olivier Labelle – Johan Skinnars. The reaction of the Hormadi is not long in coming and comes with a shot from Lionel Tarantino who finds the mitten of the Bordeaux goalkeeper in response to a throw off target from Gabriel Desjardins.
The start of the second period keeps the pace of the first with a lot of physical play and intensity as well as a lot of work on the defensive lines and goalkeepers. Visitors will finally be the first to be rewarded for their efforts after eight minutes. Nicolas Arrossamena sends a powerful shot which prevents Clément Fouquerel from controlling the puck, Oskars Batna, placed in support in front of the cage, slips it to the back of the net and scores his sixth goal of the season (0-1 to 28’00).
A few seconds after the goal, the Hormadi benefited from a power-play for a foul by Gabriel Desjardins and continued his offensive play around the cage of Clément Fouquerel. However, shortly after mid-match, launched by Andrew Johnston, Johan Skinnars found Antoine Bonvalot’s top corner with a superb deflection movement (1-1 at 31’43).
Now tied, the Boxers seem to be totally revived and will better finish this second period. After two shots from Mathias Arnaud and Aina Rambelo stopped by Antoine Bonvalot, the locals will manage to take the lead in the score for the first time of the evening. Simon Bourque releases a powerful shot deflected by François Paquin on which Antoine Bonvalot bows a second time. The puck is housed in the left corner of the cage (2-1 to 35’37).
The last opportunity of this second third, signed Sébastien Gauthier, is rejected by Clément Fouquerel. The Boxers keep their small goal ahead after the first forty minutes.
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| Photographer: Johanna Lawrence |
Basque players have returned with other intentions to tackle this final third. They won’t have to wait too long to confirm this. However, the Boxers start from entry into the offensive zone by unfortunately circulating the puck in front of Antoine Bonvalot’s cage without creating real opportunities.
The Hormadi gradually regains control of the puck and begins to push by multiplying the offensive playing time in order to equalize as quickly as possible. The long-awaited equalizer arrives at half of this third after an opportunity from Kévin Maso. Launched on the right side, Nicolas Arrossamena found in the axis Oskars Batna. The Latvian striker appears at the far post and deflects the puck by taking the Bordeaux defense at speed (2-2 at 50’45).
The last ten minutes will be extremely expensive for Olivier Dimet’s men. The Hormadi continues to exert a strong offensive domination and it still pays off. Placed at the top of the offensive zone, slightly to the right, Jiri Hunkes releases a long shot on which Clément Fouquerel can do nothing (2-3 at 53’00). In the seconds that follow, Lionel Tarantino recovers an attack puck in the offensive zone and wins his duel with Clément Fouquerel (2-4 to 53’37).
The relaxation and the Bordeaux defensive errors allow the visitors to demonstrate maximum efficiency with three consecutive goals. The Boxers, however, do not give up and try to react in the last minutes. Placed on the right side, Olivier Labelle found Antoine Bonvalot’s nets with a shot flush with the ice in the final seconds (3-4 at 59’54).
Over the whole game, the Hormadi deserves to win this victory in Bordeaux 4 goals to 3 by having delivered a match of very high quality. Antoine Bonvalot, one of the architects of this result, maintained his partners very well in the match, especially in the first two thirds with many decisive saves. Suddenly, Oskars Batna won the duel of the top scorers of the evening with two new achievements, bringing his personal total to seven. Hormadi took advantage of this result to pass the Boxers in the standings. Olivier Dimet’s men will have a week to better prepare for the trip to Nice on Friday.
Upcoming meetings
Nice / Bordeaux (SLM J42) (27/11 at 8:30 p.m.)
Anglet / Cergy (SLM J18) ?? (12/01 at 8:30 p.m.)
STARS OF THE MATCH
Anglet : 35 Antoine Bonvalot
Bordeaux : 95 Johan Skinnars
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