the essential
Ariège supremacy at stake this Sunday at La Rijole for the first round of the Ariège derby in Women's Regional 2. The UOP players will start as favorites but will still have to be wary of Lézatoises who will make the short trip without complexes.
UO Pamiers (3rd; 7v-3d) – Coquelicot Lézatois (11th; 2v-8d); Sunday, at 3:30 p.m., Paulin Palmade room – la Rijole, in Pamiers.- The schedule will have made supporters wait until the end of the first legs, but here is the return of the women's Ariège derbies. No doubt eager to meet again at this level, the two teams have already met this season. It was mid-October, as part of the Coupe de la Garonne, where Pamiers continued on its merry way (they easily beat Le Fousseret on Wednesday evening). The Appaméennes had won in the Georges Pédoussaut hall in a strangely much more electric atmosphere than for the men's derby which had taken place around ten days earlier. Will the second round on Sunday be just as good? As with the men, but by reversing the roles, the two Ariège teams are not in the same boat. The Coquelicot women are donning the costume of the promoted team this season after many years spent at the departmental level. Obviously, the level transition proves difficult. But if the Lézatoises are in penultimate place in the ranking, synonymous with a decline, their chances of remaining still remain intact. Especially after their great victory obtained last weekend against the Cornebarrieu reserve, which comes in addition to that against Blagnac at the opening of the season. Dependent on their duo of shooting leaders Kiara Hamlaoui and Pauline Montané, the Reds suffer against the big guns in the division but remain capable of brilliant shots and their valor could well be rewarded in the spring. For its part, Pamiers has had a start to the campaign in line with expectations. The upheavals of the off-season at the level of the technical staff have in no way altered or improved the performance of a dense workforce which would need a few small adjustments to seriously consider promotion to the Pre-National. The Yellow and Black have nevertheless proven on several occasions that they know how to compete with the elite of their division but that they also have an unfortunate propensity to wait until the last moment to show the extent of their talent. Against the Lézatoises who will come bravely to try their luck, the Appameans must not forget the awakening if they do not want to experience a bad surprise.
