Usam – MHB: Montpellier eliminates a tenacious Nîmes at Parnasse and continues the adventure in the Coupe de France

At the end of the match, MHB relied on its defense to overcome Usam. Midi Libre – ALEXIS BETHUNE

MHB qualified for the quarter-finals of the French Handball Cup by winning at Parnasse against a Usam Nîmes (22-28) that was nevertheless very tenacious for a large part of the match, Tuesday, December 10.

Twelve times two minutes, a red card, the beginnings of scuffles during and even after the end of the match… The spectators at the Parnasse witnessed a real derby between MHB and Usam.

But in the end, it was still Montpellier who won for the ninth consecutive time against Nîmes, all competitions combined. All to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France, a competition checked by the Hérault club.

A tight derby

Contrary to what the gap at the end of the match might suggest, this derby was rather tight on the scoreboard. Thanks to a good first half, the Green team even came close to taking the lead before the break, without success (13-13).

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The start of the second half then rather went in favour of Montpellier, allowing them to take a three-goal advantage after less than ten minutes after the break (15-18, 39th). But David Degouy's men did not admit defeat, however, returning to the Hérault Basques as money time approached (17-18, 44th).

The fact of the match: Desbonnet's save in the 46th minute

But in this game, Montpellier probably had more experience in negotiating these hot moments, where each ball weighs a ton and can change the face of an entire match. Proof of this is in the 46th minute, with what turned out to be the action of the match in favor of the MHB.

While Usam was in numerical superiority and on a ball to equalize, Luc Tobie found himself alone in the duel against Rémi Desbonnet, author of the necessary save. Before sending Sebastian Karlsson to widen a small gap of two goals.

All this allowed the MHB to see this end of the match coming by raising the defensive cursor a little more. At a level far too high for Julien Rebichon's teammates to hope to come back in this derby.