The Black Devils of US Saint-Malo hold the bar

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The poster was promising last Friday, with the Saint-Malo leader receiving his Avranchinese runner-up. This shock kept all its promises with a good match which saw US Saint-Malo hold its place over its neighbor Basse-Norman who was still playing in the National last season.

An overall logical victory as confirmed by Gwen Corbin, the USSM coach: It’s a completely deserved success, Avranches didn’t have any clear chances if I’m not mistaken. Apart from a few balls behind our defense, we conceded nothing.

An opening score early in the match

The opening score, before the quarter of an hour of play, by Marvin Duclovel, with a header from a corner, had obviously allowed the Malouins to get their match off to a good start: “We had the idea of ​​resolving the situation quickly because we knew that Avranches was certainly going to come with its 5-man defense to close the game. We had also identified that set pieces could be a solution to being dangerous and that’s what happened. It’s a great satisfaction because we discussed the subject a lot with the players on video and on the pitch. When it happens like that, it rewards the work and investment of an entire group, from the staff to the players,” recognizes the Saint-Malo technician.

A successful service in terms of maturity

The blow was delivered by Guillaume Heinry, ideally served by Raphaël Gerbeaud, who perfectly adjusted the opposing goalkeeper at the dawn of the last quarter of an hour to ensure that the 3 points would fall into Saint-Malo’s pocket.

An epilogue which rewarded successful collective performance, as Gwen Corbin explains: “We were very successful in many sectors. The defensive line was solid, with a good appreciation of depth, coming out in good times. The midfielder was constantly harassing, which prevented our opponents from deploying their game and offensively, in addition to efficiency, we recovered a lot of balls thanks to controlled pressing. It’s an accomplished performance in terms of maturity.”

Last match of the year in Blois

For the last match of 2024, a complicated trip awaits the Malouins and not only because of the quality of the Blois squad: “Their pitch is a real disaster, it’s a field. The Avranches coach confirmed it to me, their pitch is not improving, and yet we will have to try to develop our game because we are a playful team but it will not be easy on a pitiful pitch” , railed the Saint-Malo coach when broaching the subject of the trip to Blois.

“We will go there to win, that’s how it is in every game, we play every game to win, we won’t change that. This will allow us, in any case we hope, to maintain our invincibility in this 2024/2025 season.”

There is no doubt that the Black Devils will want to finish on a good note before leaving for a well-deserved vacation given the efforts made since August: “After returning from Blois, the players will take a break from collective training until January 2 even if they will have individual work to do in the last days of December.”

Enough to recharge the batteries to experience a year 2025 that just needs to be exceptional and full of emotions.

Anthony DELAMAIRE

PRACTICE: Blois – US Saint-Malo, Saturday at 6 p.m. RANKING: 1. US Saint-Malo 31pts; 2. Saint-Pryvé Saint-Hilaire 24pts; 3. Bordeaux, Avranches 21pts; 5. Herbaria 20pts; 6. Poitiers, Blois 19pts; 8. Locminé 17pts; 9. Bourges, Saint-Brieuc 16pts; 11. Saumur, Dinan-Léhon 14pts; 13. Châteaubriant 12pts; 14. La Roche-sur-Yon 11pts; 15. Le Poiré-sur-Vie 9pts; 16. Granville 8pts.

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