the essential
Trailing by 17 points after a quarter of an hour of play, Sporting failed to catch up against Arpajon, who nevertheless showed up at Camille-Guibert with the status of last in the group.
Losing at home always hurts a lot. So, losing by not being able to catch up, for an entire half, shakes up the neurons even more. Decazeville learned this the hard way yesterday afternoon. The Decazeville players were certainly reassured to see the red lantern present at home, a week after having made a comeback synonymous with a defensive bonus in Cahors (24-17). But yesterday was not the same story. It is clear that history does not repeat itself every Sunday!
Two new injuries
We must mention the adversary. Last in the standings when they entered the pitch, the Cantaliens got off to a perfect start and certainly silenced their detractors. Barely eight minutes of play and already two tries for Arpajon, who then had a 17-point lead. Without the Decazevillois being able to touch a single ball. With a perfect start in the engagement and in the possession, Arpajon, like a steamroller, will have done everything to the Aveyronnais on the back, mastering absolutely nothing except the closed scrum.
So, as in Cahors, Sporting will run after its defensive errors, its poorly negotiated touches. The Arpajonnais opener did not tremble when it was necessary to sanction Sporting. So much so that at the break, Arpajon will lead by 16 points, the SCD having to reduce the gap to a try from Romain Vidal (7-23).
Gathered for a long time in the center of the field before returning to the locker room, we tell ourselves that the blue and white will inevitably react. As usual, one would be tempted to say, because yes, too often Sporting plays by reaction. But yesterday, it was on his lawn, in front of his audience…
So, a whole stadium started to believe it when the referee awarded a penalty try to SCD (54th) and he showed the third row and captain Maituku a red card for the same action. The supporters applauded, while Arpajon tightened up, taking the points at the feet of his opener Maffre to restore the gap (17-29).
During the second act, there was ultimately only one highlight for Decazevillois, who paid a heavy price for their expenditure of energy, losing hooker Bastien Pons, hit in the knee, then the center Antoine Pisano, who complained about the shoulder.
A time at 13 against 15 Decazevillois, Arpajon defended his advantage, but Quentin Guibert put his team back to five points, diving into the goal after several periods of play for the blue and white (24-29). Hungry, the visitors stopped all Aveyron offensives, always on the verge of breaking through the advantage line in the final minutes.
The comeback and the victory by plunder did not take place and Arpajon emerged from a duel that everyone believed to be unbalanced. And Sporting in all this? He will have to question himself and find the resources in Malemort next Sunday to recover from this disillusionment. We almost forget that the Decazevillois took the defensive bonus. But is it really enough?
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