Coupe de France: against Saint-Malo (N2), CO Briochin (R1) falls with its head held high

Coupe de France (7th round). CO Briochin (R1) – US Saint-Malo (N2): 1-2

So there will be no derby in two weeks. Sunday afternoon, at the Stade de Château-Bily, it was Saint-Malo who won the right to face Stade Briochin in the eighth round of the Coupe de France. Faller of CO Briochin (2-1), Gwen Corbin's players, leaders of their National 2 group, enforced the hierarchy even if, despite the two divisions between the two teams, the opposition was intense and sometimes indecisive. If it had to be summed up in a few flashes, there was first this slightly deflected 20m shot from Charpentier-Plisson which allowed the Cobistes to open the score (1-0, 25').

“We didn't have many opportunities but the fact of scoring first gave us hope,” summarized midfielder Dréo Brocard, author of an XXL performance. In the end, we weren't that far away. » They were even very close, a few minutes later, when Escandre, the Saint-Malo goalkeeper, pulled out all the stops to deflect Lancelot Hamon's header (32'). A new flash and a turning point, certainly, especially since Daury, after a disputed foul at the edge of the area, equalized with a masterful direct free kick before the break (1-1, 38'). This goal offered more peace of mind to the Corsairs who were very technically comfortable but who did not however succeed in completely extinguishing the Briochins. It took an incident of play to see them go ahead when the same Daury beat Lesur from close range while Jérémy Toutain's players demanded to stop the game following Denes' injury (1-2, 50').
“In the opposite case, we would have taken the ball out,” cursed the Cob coach. Afterwards, once this frustration is removed, we can only be proud of what we have produced. I have an extraordinary group who responded. We gave a little emotion to all these people who came to see us. »

Because the end of the match was breathtaking and even if the equalizer did not come, the last local blows gave the Malouins some shivers. “We had to hold on during the final minutes because we hadn't made the break before,” admitted their coach. We knew that with just one goal in advance, we would have these somewhat heated moments. In the Coupe de France, things always happen five minutes from the end.

But since the start of the season, we have experienced a lot of scenarios. At Châteaubriant (August 17), we led 3-1 until the 88th minute before being caught (3-3). That day, we took such a beating that it taught us a lot of things. Here, at Cob, we didn't panic. We remained quite confident in our strength. » A leading force that they will still need on the pitch at Fred-Aubert, on November 29 or 30 during the eighth round.

BUTS. CO Briochin: Charpentier-Plisson (25'); US Saint-Malo: Daury (38', 50').

Warnings. US Saint-Malo: Cillard (86'); Daury (90').

CO BRIOCHIN: Lesur – Richomme, Aboubakari (c.), Hamon, Tchinda – Brocard (Chapin, 90') – Marquier (Guillausseau, 73'), Charpentier-Plisson (Rouxel, 72'), Denes, Le Person (Diouf, 82') – Mendy (Fofana, 82'). Coach: J. Toutain.

US SAINT-MALO : Escandre – Duclovel (Duponchelle, 72'), Cottereau (c.), Cissé, Daillet, Taipa – Leroyer (Barroug, 72'), Magnon (Cillard, 61'), Daury – Diakhaby, Gerbeaud (Hungbo, 88'). Entraîneur: G. Corbin.