Last season, FC Abbaretz-Saffré qualified for the 4e French Cup round after three penalty shootouts, where its goalkeeper Arthur Mauny distinguished himself. This season, the club from the Châteaubriant region is once again present in the “jersey round”, but without going through the penalty shootout.
Better still, the team, now coached by Loïc Avot, eliminated two Regional 3 teams (Thouaré 1-0 then Mouzeil Teillé Ligné 2-1) before beating AS Sautron (Regional 1) this Sunday (2-1).
“We have more technical quality than last year”
“We believed in it because we recovered good players this summer, including four from Saint-Médard de Doulon (Regional 2), concedes Clément Goas, defender who played for Vertou, Challans and La Roche VF. I think we have more technical quality than last season. This was seen in the midfield against Sautron.”
Abbaretz-Saffré has had a new run in the Coupe de France, but this time with some great performances against superior teams. “We were not spoiled by the draw but it is the third time that we have eliminated a team from the League, assures the player who played for FC Nantes in youth. Against Sautron, we suffered because they had the ball. Which is normal for a Regional 1 club. However, we were not put in too much difficulty throughout the match. Overall, we planned what we wanted to do.
A sluggish start to the championship
Trailing in the score, the players from the Châteaubriant region were able to bounce back to achieve this great feat. “After their goal, we were able to equalize a few minutes later,” said Clément Goas. “That goal galvanized us! The sending off of a Sautron player at the hour mark helped us a lot. We scored that second goal, and then we could have killed the match.” After Tristan Chevalier Leyva Ponc’s goal (0-1, 19′), Milanko Stojcinovic equalized (1-1, 23′). And after Flavien Deluen’s sending off (58′), Abbaretz-Saffré forced Sautron into making a mistake with an own goal from Sarki Mamoudou (2-1 68′).
Despite these three great performances in the French Cup, Loïc Davot’s players got off to a bad start in their Departmental 1 championship with a defeat at Treillières (1-3). “We may have thought we were too beautiful, underlines Clément Goas. We finished 3e then 2e these last two seasons. We have strengthened ourselves so logic would dictate that we play for promotion. But this defeat reminds us that we must remain cautious because this championship is very dense.
As for the Cup, the fourth round draw is not really a topic of discussion.. “We didn’t talk about it, confides the full-back. Personally, I like meeting new teams that I have never played against!”
Answer Wednesday evening…
