Last bastion of Haute-Marne in the French Cup, Chaumont FC almost toppled a mountain on Saturday November 16. The beautiful adventure ended on this 7e turn against a GOAL FC which is nevertheless manageable (2-3), but more opportunistic.
Chaumont FC, the last Haut-Marne survivor of the French Cup, had every reason to hope for an exploit. Facing him, in a festive and enthusiastic Georges-Dodin stadium, presented a GOAL FC (National 2) in very bad shape this season.
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To aim for 8e round of the French Cup, the Prefecturals had to attack like hell. And, damn it, they did it! Simon Girault's men had a completely crazy first ten minutes, chaining together opportunities.
Gaëtan Collin sent a cross towards Yoroba Kanhan, who missed his shot (1′), the first city almost beat the Lyon goalkeeper (4′) and Léo Dufant, with a superb brushed shot, found the post (11 ′). Everyone was sure: this opening score was about to come, thanks to the fantastic offensive commitment of Haut-Marnais. But it only took a quarter of an hour to slow down for GOAL FC to gain confidence.
As if it wasn't already cold enough (3°C no more), the Rhone residents air-conditioned the Georges-Dodin stadium in just eight minutes. Malick Assef created his own path into the area to open the scoring (0-1, 16′). The second slap came from a cross from Kamel Benkrouf, in the 19th minute, for the captain, Loïc Dufau, who shot Michel Essono's goal (0-2). Finally, in the 24th minute, CFC conceded an avoidable penalty, converted by Léo Fichten on the wrong foot (0-3).
There was then a cathedral silence in the stands… Until the decibels exploded again: Léo Dufant politely knocked on the door of the Lyon rearguard, before entering in force with an unstoppable strike from the outside of the foot (1-3, 44′).
Just before the break, hope returned. “It will do it, we did it against Thionville, we will do it again” proclaimed Jean-François Wanham, one of the CFC executives, just before the restart. His words were almost premonitory, facing a GOAL FC which was seriously starting to falter.
Which did not prevent him from giving the Prefecturals a few cold sweats, particularly threatened on the wings. Malick Assef tried his luck from afar, without success (49') and Latta N'Dabrou almost succeeded in placing his header in the Chaumont net. But Michel Essono, attentive, was on parade (59′).
Legitimate disappointment and no 8e French Cup round
Chaumont FC started dreaming again in this French Cup and was looking forward more than ever. So much so that the visiting defense left spaces to take advantage of. An action built from the central circle took the ball to the feet of Gaëtan Collin: his lucidity in front of the goalkeeper, Lucas Marsella, allowed Georges-Dodin to roar again, in what looked like a feat to come (2-3, 77′).
These last minutes had previously been marked by scuffles following a foul on Yoroba Kanhan. All that was missing was a goal to snatch a penalty shootout from the resilience that would have been deserved after all.
But no Chaumontese opportunity subsequently came to fruition. The long-awaited (and entirely possible) equalizer did not come after four minutes of added time. The cut stops on this 7e tour.
GOAL FC was very hot, but will go to 8e round of the French Cup, despite its very complicated sporting context (2-3). The Chaumontais sinned by a single moment of inconsistency, without which the victory would have been logical.
But today's performance, committed, determined and extremely attractive, lays the foundations for similar success in the championship, to play the leading roles. And this after another great cup run.
Bastien Dauby
Statements: “We pay the bill dearly”
Benoît Collin (president of Chaumont FC): “We missed 20 minutes and most of our duels. It hurt us a lot. The match was very good and we had hope of coming back at the end. It's always good to face good teams, especially for the Haut-Marne public who are weaned from high-level football. We attract people and we show a good image of our club in this Coupe de France. And I’m happy for the players”
Simon Girault (Chaumont FC coach): “We were surprised to start so strong and to have so many opportunities. But I think that's precisely what we didn't anticipate and that we slowed down afterwards. It had to be physical and mental. And inevitably, we pay dearly in the end, especially considering our second half. Now, we're refocusing on the championship after the cup, hoping that it doesn't cost us, like last year. It's up to us to repeat this kind of match in R1. »
Léo Dufant (first scorer for Chaumont FC): “The state of mind of the group changed after the “0-3”. We said to ourselves that we had nothing to lose in this Coupe de France and it hit us hard. I was successful on this goal, after a lot of aggression on our part. Especially since we know how to make the difference in the second half, against a GOAL FC who had very few chances. We had a feeling it was going to happen, but ultimately it didn't. The public gave us a boost and we would be happy to have a lot of people in the stands. »
Gaëtan Collin (second scorer for Chaumont FC): “We believed in it until the end. This second goal was a sign that we were going to have a chance. But it all came down to details to allow us to believe in penalties. The chances multiplied for us and morale took a hit with the three goals. This is also where the difference was made in this cup match. »
Fabien Pujo (GOAL FC coach): “I congratulate the Chaumont team. We saw that there was great offensive potential in this very good formation and that was verified this Sunday. We were a little below and their realism could have allowed them to lead. But our first period was consistent, but we would have been calmer if we had led 3-0 at the break. If they had equalized, it would have been deserved, because we came back. At least, in the Coupe de France, we find happiness, alongside difficult moments. »
Loïc Dufau (GOAL FC captain): “Chaumont had a great start to the match. But we had general control, while managing to score first. Their first goal before the break revived them and they were a good team against us. The main thing was to qualify with good phases of play and good goals. Our news makes this victory a nice breath of fresh air. »
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