It was the first match in the history of Narbonne in Ligue A. It was the promoted Narbonne against the Cannes, then reigning French champions. With a victory for the Narbonnais in their historic Palais du Travail, 3 sets to 2. A few hours before Cannes’ arrival at the Arena, we look back at this unforgettable Heroes’ Night.
Those who were there never forgot. In The IndependentLaurent Soulier, responsible for documenting the daily life of Narbonne Volley for years, had placed this evening in the compartment of the club’s exploits. In the newspaper, in the early morning of October 2, 2005, the day after the Narbonne feat, Laurent Soulier recorded “a whirlwind of madness”. “Extra-ordinary!”, “Dazzling”, he insisted.
He was talking about the sporting feat of the day before: Narbonne’s victory over Cannes. The success of those who were not yet called the Centurions, then just promoted to League A for the first time in their history, over the reigning champion Cannes. With a score of 3 sets to 2. An improbable victory for Michel Mandrou’s men in the tie-break had colored the Narbonne night with intoxication.
How ? For what ? Como1 ? Come2 ? The Narbonnais Cyril Camacho (libero, complete) who participated in this insane triumph, remembers… “We had nothing to lose… They were the little ones against the ogre of the championship. Facing us, we had big players: Schalk, Le Marrec, Ndaki Mboulet, Novotny, Hudecek, the libero Berriri… A dream team3“…” Not to mention that the Cannes coach was a certain Laurent Tillie… In those years, we didn’t do much better on the floor.
Andy Cès our point had been stratospheric
“Personally, I never would have believed one day that I would evolve at this level…”, sighs Cyril Camacho. “I had just returned to Narbonne. I had signed to play and become the physiotherapist or one of the club physiotherapists…” On October 1, 2005, he who has never stopped taking care of the muscles and joints of Narbonnais volleyball players entered the game.
“We were very strong, that’s for sure. Andy Cès our point guard was stratospheric. He was enormous. Tristan Martin on the pass was very impressive. But the best part was perhaps the public. The Palais du Travail had exploded. The room had galvanized us. It resonated so much! After the match, France 3 asked Mboulet how Cannes could have lost. He replied that it was the Palais and its audience that made the difference. … Our audience had made Cannes fall in love”, Camacho certifies. “We turned the match around in the fourth set. Afterwards, we were unstoppable. It was crazy, crazy, crazy!”
The technical sheet
Narbonne…….. 3
Cannes……… .2
In Narbonne, at the Palais du Travail. October 1, 2005.
Narbonne wins 3 sets to 2 (25-20, 18-25, 18-25, 25-18, 15-9).
700 spectators.
Referees: MM. Guillet and Daragon.
For Narbonne: 6 aces (3 Sikiric), 14 winning blocks (4 Grapentine and Cès), 48 winning attacks (18 Cès), 28 unforced errors (including 14 on service).
Starting six: Sikiric (17 points), Cès (24), Martin (1), Frontin (9), Sharaliev (6), then Grapentine (11), Pérez (2), Camacho. Libero Le Berre.
For Cannes: 4 aces (2 Ndaki Mboulet), 5 winning blocks, 56 winning attacks, 30 unforced errors (including 18 on service).
Starting six: Schalk (12), Le Marrec (1), Ndaki Mboulet (12), Novotny (16), then Gibert (9), Meneau (1), Hudecek, Barca Cysique (14). Libero : Berriri.
Cyril Camacho also makes the reasonable hypothesis that the reigning champion was not yet ready at that date: “Cannes was playing the Champions League, they had other objectives than us.”
One certainty: we had never seen this in Narbonne. On October 2 in the street, everyone was talking about nothing but volleyball… Intense emotion… The pride of an entire city. In the Narbonne ranks, in addition to Camacho, Cès and Martin, we also found Sikiric (current president of the CEV, European Volleyball Confederation), Munday, Grapentine, Frontin, Sharaliev, Pérez and even Le Berre. On the bench, Mandrou of course flanked by his deputy Paul Prunet. A whole era… “2005, for Narbonne, it’s professionalization, the club recruits foreigners and as we are in Ligue A, even the newspaper L’Équipe is interested in us. For the first time, L’Équipe presents Narbonne Volley, there are all the names of the players, and obviously we buy it, we are proud…”
What fun for an evening!
The Independent – Philippe LEBLANC
In the end, in 2005-2006, the Narbonnais only won one other home match, 3-1 against Ajaccio. They won three times away, in Toulouse (3-2), Montpellier (3-0) and Tourcoing (3-2), but did not stay in Ligue A, finishing penultimate place in the ranking ahead of Ajaccio with 16 points.
Camacho states: “If Andy Cès had not been injured against Tourcoing at the Palais on the 3rd day, we were holding on. Andy was too strong. After a back and knee injury, he never played indoors again, spending time at the beach with his brother. What a shame. But what a fun space for an evening!
