Saturday evening, Hombourg hosted Oppagne in a meeting that we initially thought was without stakes. But the two teams learned a few hours before kick-off that promotion to D3 was finally possible, following the withdrawal of team B from the RWDM. “Until 4 p.m., we didn’t particularly want to play, then when we heard that a place became available in the national, we felt a little excitement building and it wasn’t any worse”, explained Dorian Meunier, the captain of the Liège team afterwards. The Gauls had learned the news Friday evening.
The match started ideally for Hombourg as Sacha Meunier quickly found the opening, with a harmless shot that Lejeune could not control. The two teams created situations for themselves and Oppagne equalized through Martin Bonjean, with a nice long shot. The second half started well for the Gauls, who took the lead with another long-range strike from Martin “Toni Kroos” Bonjean, a specialist in cleaning skylights.
Shortly before the hour mark, Fiévet missed the inevitable and Oppagne was punished a few moments later. Sacha Meunier, once again confusing, was wrongly stopped in the rectangle by Romain Bonjean, who received a red card. Dorian Meunier did not tremble and transformed the penalty. Hombourg pushed to make the difference, saw a goal from Frisée canceled for offside and came up against Lejeune, better inspired than at the start of the game.
And five minutes from time, the joker Fiacre crucified Hombourg on a well-executed counterattack. Despite a final rush from the Orange, the score no longer changed. “We started the meeting without life, observed Valère Lamy, for whom it was the penultimate match at the head of Oppagne. We didn’t put any intensity or speed of execution. We give them the first goal and we don’t react, while they play it really well. When we manage to regain the upper hand at the start of the second half, we tell ourselves that we will emerge, but we find ourselves in difficulty again, missing the break then finding ourselves down to ten. We finally manage to emerge at the moment when Hombourg deserved to do so. I am disappointed with our performance, but it will quickly pass if the ACFF decides that there is an additional amount.”
The week promises to be full of emotions for the Gauls, who hope not only to take advantage of the withdrawal of the RWDM B team to seize the 32nd and last place in D3, but also to win the Provincial Cup against Libramont on Friday evening to Marloie.
An unprecedented case
Who will take the place of RWDM B, who registered in D3 before withdrawing? It will be up to the ACFF to answer this thorny question, which does not seem to be provided for by the regulations since this B team did not exist before. Three solutions are possible: 1. Another French-speaking pro club registers a B team (Liège, Francs Borains or La Louvière); 2. Oppagne moves up to D3; 3. The place left by RWDM B goes to a club from the same province, namely Brabant.
It would be very surprising if the third option were chosen by the ACFF, but we are no longer left with a surprise…
Technical
HOMBURG: Beckers, Denoël, Das, Lardinois (86′, Forthomme), D. Meunier, Hick, Potoms (70′, Doelen), Gerrekens (53′, Dobbelstein), S. Meunier, Belboom (59′, Frisée), Bauwens.
OPPAGNE: Lejeune, Dropsy (57′, Borrey), Fiévet (77′, Fiacre), M. Raskin, R. Bonjean, V. Raskin, M. Bonjean, Cornélis (59′, Warnier), Dandoy, Jadot (90′, Carlier ), Guillaume.
Arbitrator: Mr. Jacoby. Yellow cards: Lardinois; Mr. Bonjean. Red cards: R. Bonjean (direct, 61′).
Goals: S. Meunier (1-0, 6′), M. Bonjean (1-1, 25′) (1-2, 50′), D. Meunier on pen. (2-2, 62′), Fiacre (2-3, 86′).
