After 12 days of competition, the hopes of JL Bourg are still… at the top of the French championship. Nicolas Croisy’s gang has a victory ahead of Le Mans, Dijon and Cholet, before facing Nancy on Friday, the last match of 2024.
“Being first at this stage of the season is a nice surprise but a reward for the group, who work hard and who have had very little rest since August (one week in November, editor’s note),” underlines the coach.
“A nice surprise and a reward”
With its good results, the team was expected in each match and the ramparts fell for the first time in Chalon after 8 victories in a row: “I have a little regret about this match. We played without Léon Sifferlin and, with our squad limited in number, we had pulled a little on the executives. It’s a shame, but that’s part of the ups and downs of a season. »
If the coach has some regrets about this duel, he has fewer after the second defeat of the season at Cholet this weekend: “There again we were not at full strength (1), but we stayed in the match for 25 minutes. Cholet targeted our game well and we did not find solutions on their defense. That said, losing at Cholet, one of the largest training centers in France, is far from dishonorable. »
In any case, hopes remain in the coach’s plans before the Christmas break: “In December we had Monaco, Le Mans, Cholet on the program and we finish on Saturday in Nancy. Only top 6 teams. I gave the players 3 out of 4. We are in the nails (2 out of 3). We still have to go find Nancy, where we won the Future Trophy last year, to spend the holidays at the top of the championship all by ourselves. »
The Future Trophy organized in Bourg?
It will then be time to look forward to 2025 with two trips on the program (Paris and Strasbourg), before fighting for the title and why not the double, after the Trophée du futur: “The club has applied for the organization of the trophy (May 30-31 and June 1) with Strasbourg. The answer will come in January. It would be a great thing to return to a final phase. And if we can do like in 2019 with the U18s (2) that would be magnificent. »
(1) Anatole Humeau was injured and Léon Sifferlin returns to competition after mononucleosis. (2) The U18s were crowned champions of France against Nanterre under the leadership of the late Pierre Murtin.
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