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After three low key warm up matches, we marked our return to the second level of French football with a visit to Troyes. We were nervously confident that we could do fairly well this season, but this would be a test as to how far we could expect to go. New boy Michael Munk sent us into a 39th minute lead, but ten minutes from the end Kouassi put the ball into his own net and we were denied our opening day glory.
At home to Sedan, in front of just under 6000 people, nerves seemed to take hold of us and we werent helped by the visitors being awarded a 16th minute penalty which they converted. Five minutes later Sedan had a second and the points were gone. If we were in any doubt as to the task facing us this season, those have just been washed away.
Away to Niort, and another new boy makes his mark as [i]Kalusivikako N'Goma[/b] fired us into a 6th minute lead. Stephane Calce had to go off injured after just 16 minutes, which was a huge blow, and on the half hour we conceded our second penalty in two games, but this time the kick was put over the bar and we survived. Another injury blow at halftime as Laurent Delchie couldnt carry on, and in the second period we stubbornly held our lead until N'Goma added a second in injury time for a superb away win.
Montpellier at home was always going to be a tough match, and for the 3rd game in a row we game a penalty, on the 51st minute this time, but once more the kick was missed. Late goals from Patrick Mboma and Nicolas Esceth-N'Zi though gave our visitors the win they probably deserved. Once more though, away from home, we were to find the luck with us. Besancon of course came up with us last season, and I guess if we were going to beat anyone we would think it would be them. Calce grabbed his first goal within 32 seconds of the match started, and then added another on 29. In between the new strikers first two goals for the club, N'Goma showed he was going to be threat with another goal, and in the end another very good away result.
For some reason, our home match with Creteil was live on TV, and after 35 minutes we found ourselves behind. Calce did pull us level three minutes later, but the visitors scored again seventeen minutes from time and it seems we cannot win at home. Of course its very early days yet, and if we end the season in our current 11th position, I guess that will be a very good achievement.
01-03-2005, 02:26 PM
Tout Mon Samedi - Le Journal Intime de Mon Succès. Ou Echec. Post #32
The start to the season hadnt been the greatest. The reality was though, that it was probably as good as could have hoped for, and not quite as bad as we feared it might have been. Yet it was true we were struggling a bit to find our feet in the higher division, and we would need to do that soon if we were to survive.
Away to Toulouse, we battled stubbornly, but a 16th minute strike from Braizat saw us stumble to another defeat. We had yet to win a home match, which was very worrying in itself. When Lorient took the lead after 24 minutes from the penalty spot, that record seemed as if it was going to continue. Gradually the players started to get to grips, and right on half time Doumbouya equalised. Twelve minutes into the second half, we were ahead and even though it had taken an own goal, we would happily accept all the luck we could get. In injury time, Dusquesnoy missed a penalty for us, but we had finally broken our home duck.
A 2-0 defeat in Grenoble showed that perhaps we hadnt quite turned the corner yet, but at home to struggling worse than we were Valence we finally put in a performance to be very proud of. Stephane Calce, fully fit again, fired in a hattrick and other goals from Sabourin, Theze and N'Goma saw us ease to a great 6-2 win, that moved us up the table and away from the zone of relegation.
Our final match of the month took us to mid-table Reims. Calce grabbed his eighth goal in nine league games, and subsitute [i]AtusAtis-Clothaire grabbed the winner on 75 minutes as we pulled of an excellent away win, and now things look that little bit brighter as we sit in a much better looking 7th place.
Although things were looking not too bad, for a newly promoted team, it wasnt all plain sailing of course and you really wouldnt expect it to be. A 2-2 home draw with Ajaccio wasnt a great result, but at eleast it was entertaining stuff, and a red card for either side did little to ruin the match.
Being in Ligue 2, Libourne would now be partipating in La Coupe de la Ligue. Grenoble were the opponents in the Preliminary round and trailing 1-0 as the match drew to a close it looked like curtains. With literally the last touch of the ball, Kouassi headed home from an Atis-Clothaire corner and we had extra time. The match was heading for a penalty shoot out, when Calce stormed through the Grenoble defence and slotted the ball home with 120 minutes and 22 seconds on the clock. No wonder the Grenoble players were gutted.
That the side was still short of a player or two wasnt unknown to me, and the 1-0 defeat at promotion pushing Le Havre just underlined the point, although I also believe it shows we are not that far away from the better side in the division. A 2-1 home defeat from Gueugnon though perhaps showed that we were after all, but the month ended with a 2-0 win away to Le Mans and that sort of cancelled out the Gueugnon defeat.
As the season nears its halfway point, with sixteen matches now played in the ligue, we sit in a very respectable 8th position, with 23 points. Only seven adrift the 3rd spot that would see us promoted to Ligue 1, and ten ahead of relegation. Its looking like a nice comfortable mid table spot, and at the end of the day we couldnt really ask much more at this stage in time.
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