Of course, the Crocos still have a hard time scoring, but Adil Hermach, deprived of around ten players and satisfied with the content, did not want to overwhelm them after the draw against the Varois, 4th in Pool A of National 2 (0-0).
Nîmes (N) 0 – Fréjus / Saint-Raphaël (N2) 0
Antonins Stadium. Cold weather, degraded lawn. Match behind closed doors.
Referee: Robin Hingrand.
Warning in Nîmes: Iafrate (27th).
Nimes : Ichalalen – Labonne (Sbaï 46e), Iafrate (Klitim 72e), Paviot, Beneddine (Laurens 72e) – M. Hermach, Akkal, Mexique (cap, Khalid 61e), Bouaoune (El Hamri 67e) – Marcel (Daoudi 72e), Abdeljelil (Camara 67e).
If we didn’t know Nîmes’ ills so well and the cruel lack of efficiency in front of the opposing goal observed during the first part of the season, we could have written that we had witnessed a good 0-0 this Saturday to the Antonins.
But, like the Crocs supporters, we have suffered too much from Gard’s offensive clumsiness in recent times to appreciate yesterday’s performance and describe it as promising. So, let’s say encouraging, without forgetting that there was a National 2 team opposite. And the most important (and hardest) thing in Football is to score!
2024-2025, same fight: 13 chances, 12 shots on target
2024-2025, therefore, same fight. Chances, a little, a lot, crazy, but no goal at all. We counted 13, and 12 shots on target. Var goalkeeper Mocio was the man of the first period with five saves: on a returning corner from Beneddine (1st minute) then twice against Abdeldjelil (3rd and 43rd) and Marcel (23rd and 26th) in the area.
On the sides, Beneddine and Labonne contributed, and the absence of around ten players was not felt too much. The goalkeepers Simon (a little ill, preserved) and Cozzella (in the recovery phase) as well as Doukansy, Picouleau, Lemaangr (ill), Delpech (testing at Le Mans, no response for the moment), Amara (reathletization ), Ali Abdallah (return to Strasbourg) and the hinge Mendy-Diouf (both suspended for Nancy and the resumption of the competition) were thus missing.
Jérémy Iafrate would have been sent off in an official match
The Iafrate-Paviot pair therefore worked on their complementarity, while giving each other two scares: the first, at fault on the Riviera striker Lakhamy in the position of last defender (27th) would have been sent off in an official match; and the second, taken behind his back by Barka (80th), saw with relief the center forward too crossed his shot alone against Ichalalen, preferred to Dias.
Otherwise, it was another deluge of Nîmes chances at the end of the game: the Marcel-Abdeldjelil duo a little short to take a cross from Beneddine (66th), a goal from Camara refused for offside on a cross from Sbaï (73rd ), an off-center free kick from El Hamri hitting the crossbar (83rd), a well-placed free kick from Khalid diverted by the Var goalkeeper replacing Bezzina (88th), and Camara alone but still out of the game while all he had to do was wait for Daoudi’s offering (90th).
Adil Hermach: “As usual…”
We left the Antonins with a 0-0 against Le Mans on December 6. A month later, with this 0-0 against the 4th in group A of N2, we were not disoriented. But, at the start of the year, let’s give Adil Hermach the right to believe it: “It was a good game to watch, a good comeback game. As usual, he only missed the goals. But I’m not going to overwhelm my team, and highlight the chances they had look for with their runs, their presence and their determination in the area As for the waste in front of the goal, no problem, we continue to work..
Given the state of the squad, scoring was not necessarily the desired goal this Saturday. It will necessarily be next Friday at 7:30 p.m., still at Antonins, against the Lorraine leader.
Marwane Hermach, Michel Estevan, Ernesto Gianella
Brother. Marwane Hermach, who is half the age of his big brother Adil (19 compared to 38), was lined up for 90 minutes and did not look out of place, far from it. Impressions of the usual reserve midfielder: “I was asked to be myself, and to always be moving. I felt good, but I’m not satisfied with that. I found it to be a match that was similar to the previous ones pros, with lots of chances but no goals”. Good analysis!
Spectator. Almost no one in the stands for this match behind closed doors, but a well-known coach in Gard: Michel Estevan (63), formerly at NO and Beaucaire, coach of Fréjus last season and now manager of the Var club.
Black notebook. Argentinian center forward Ernesto Gianella died this Friday at the age of 83, in Euzet, near Alès, where he lived in a nursing home. He played and scored at NO (1967-1969, D2 then D1, 24 goals) then at the OAC in the 1970s. Midi Libre presents its sincere condolences to his family and loved ones.
