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FC PIONSAT ST HILAIRE v CLERMONT FOOT AUVERGNE 63
14th October 2012
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Today in the Cup we have Pionsat v Clermont Foot Auvergne, and this is probably where Pionsat's interest will end, as the visitors today play in the National League 2 - the equivalent of the Championship in England. Pionsat are, as a matter of interest, some 9 steps lower down the pyramid so even if it is the CFA 3rd team that is out there today, no-one is expecting a miracle.
No goalkeeper again this week and so Michael carries on from where he left off last week against Cellule . I hope that he has better luck this week, because he's not at all bad in goal given half a chance. I've seen much worse guardiens de fortune than him.
Ohh how the other half lives. They've come here on a bus by the looks of things. Mind you, as you can tell from the photograph there's a muddy pitch, a howling gale and a torrential rainstorm. All of these kinds of things are great levellers, particularly when you have opponents who spend most of their lives on billiard-table surfaces.
Yes, full of optimism, me. There's nothing like it.
Just to run through the teams, up front are Nico and Cedric. In midfield are Julien, Vianney and Emeric. There's a 5-man defence with an unusual pair of full-backs - Pierre and Matthieu, with Sébastien, Gaëtan and Julien in the centre of defence. Michael is of course in goal, and on the bench are Jonathan, the other Sébastien and William, who apparently scored twice for the 2nd XI last weekend.
So after only seven or eight minutes of the game Clermont Foot open the scoring, and it's one that comes from a corner. Michael does well to come through a crowded penalty area to punch the ball clear but his defenders can't manage to clear the ball away from the edge of the penalty area.
One of their attackers, about 20 yards out of goal, fastens onto the loose ball and drives it home into the bottom corner with Michael stranded.
But despite Clermont Foot being streets ahead of Pionsat in style and technique, Pionsat are causing one or two problems in the Clermont half of the pitch and there's something of a mix-up in the Clermont defence as two of their players wait for each other to clear the ball.
Cedric nips in between them and pokes the loose ball forward and Nico does really well to run through onto the pass. He's in about half a yard of space just here and has a good shot but the ball goes into the side netting with the Clermont Foot keeper well-beaten.
If only ....
The score might be 1-0 in favour of Clermont Foot but as far as the casualty count goes, the first one into the Royal Infirmary is a Clermont Footballer. It's going to be a long haul nevertheless if Pionsat intend to win the match by dispatching the opposition one-by-one like this. Clermont Foot have of course brought a couple of substitutes with them.
One thing is certain, though, and that is that the medical facilities here at Pionsat are probably not what the players from Clermont Foot are used to. No stretchers of course, no doctors, no physiotherapists or anything like that. It's a whole different world out here in the back of beyond.
As the match progresses, Clermont Foot begin to exert themselves a little. They play the ball right through the middle of the Pionsat defence right into the penalty area, but Pionsat's defenders push them wider and wider.
In the end, one of their players has a shot from just inside the penalty area in the right-hand angle but the ball hits one of the Pionsat defenders and screws wide of the goal for a corner to Clermont Foot, which comes to nothing.
Nevertheless Clermont Foot are rampaging forward and less than a minute later they have Pionsat in all kinds of difficulty in defence. Pionsat manage to stop them on the edge of the penalty area and the Clermont Footballers pass the ball around amongst themselves looking for an opening.
Sooner or later one of the Clermont Foot players finds a little gap and has a "boom" at goal, but Michael does really well to get down to that shot and stop it. He can't hang on to the ball but manages to push it away out of danger and one of his defenders clears the ball.
Pionsat nevertheless find the wherewithal to go forward and have a good little spell, putting themselves about a little bit but eventually they lose possession to Clermont Foot who break down the right wing with a few neat little touches.
They play the ball across the Pionsat defence and it works its way to one of their players on the left-hand side of goal. He hurries his shot and fires wide of Michael's goal into the bushes at the back.
Of course it's only a matter of time before one of the Clermont Foot players finds the back of the Pionsat net again. The ball is worked nicely forward down the inside-left channel and one of the Clermont players rushes onto the ball and fires a good shot into the back of the net with Michael beaten.
However, it counts for nothing as the linesman comes to the aid of the beleaguered defenders with a well-timed offside flag. Sighs of relief all round.
But I don't like the look of the Clermont Foot n°9 who is half-a-yard in front of the Pionsat defence ready just in case Michael had fumbled the ball.
Now here's a thing. Look at this! The referee has stopped play and is holding onto the ball ... while Cedric fastens up his bootlace, which is in danger of tripping him and his marker, who by the way fully understands the dictionary definition of "shadow".
Yes, contrast the referee's action here with that of the referee at Cellule last week where the referee in that game allowed play to continue while Matthieu the Pionsat goalkeeper was prostrate on the edge of the penalty area after having received a Cellule player's boot in the face. I'm still seething about that poor decision, by the way.
It's not all one-way traffic in this game, you know. Pionsat are managing to find a few moments of inspiration. Vianney makes an interception about 30 yards out of the Clermont Foot goal and pushes the ball forward between two defenders.
Nico is there for the ball yet again and this time he goes for the lob over the head of the Clermont Foot goalkeeper who has advanced a little too far for my liking. However, he can't get enough height on the ball and the keeper makes quite a comfortable catch. Six feet higher from Nico and that would have been rather embarrassing for the visitors.
After about 30 minutes of play (with all that has happened so far I'm struggling for breath) Clermont Foot do finally find the back of the net, and this time there is no linesman to help them out.
They win a free kick in midfield and take it quickly. The ball is again worked down the inside-left position and one of their forwards has a good shot on goal. Michael does really well to get to the ball but he can't hang on to the shot.
Of course there has to be one of the Clermont Foot forwards following up the shot. After all, that's the difference between a good attack and an excellent attack, especially at this level of play where on these pitches in these kinds of conditions even the best goalkeepers are likely to spill the ball.
Michael of course does his best to try to grab the loose ball but the Clermont Foot attacker has a simple sliding tap-in at the near post and that, I'm afraid, is that.
Mind you, mentioning the best goalkeepers as we did, you won't find one of those making the kind of save that Michael has just made. You'll be hard-pushed to see a better stop than this at any level of football.
Clermont Foot's attack beats Pionsat's offside trap (although in fairness to Pionsat it wasn't one of these "contrived" traps about which I complain so much) and their winger launched a beautiful shot towards the far top corner of the net - a shot that had "goal" written all over it.
Michael leaps upwards and backwards and raising his right hand, gets a couple of fingers to the ball and acrobatically turns in mid-air to put the ball up and over the bar.
Yes, any keeper would have been pleased to make that save.
Clermont Foot have now found their rhythm in the match and, pressing relentlessly forward, score a third goal. It comes again with a good ball through the inside left channel with some nice possession despite a few fierce Pionsat tackles but eventually the ball is passed inside where one of their forwards catches it quite nicely on the half-volley.
Michael is caught on the back foot for that one, which is hardly surprising. I said last week that these kinds of shot can go anywhere, but when the defending team's luck is out, they always seem to find the bottom corner of the net and this one is no exception.
In stoppage time in the first half Clermont Foot win a penalty for a foul tackle, and I have to say that this has been coming all afternoon. The Pionsat defenders have been skating a little on thin ice for a while, with a few questionable tackles that a different referee might well have seen in a different light but there was no question about this one
The kick is cleanly taken and sends Michael completely the wrong way, but the ball clangs into the outside of the left-hand post and goes out for a goal kick.
A few changes at half-time. William, Sébastien and Jonathan are on the field, with Nico, Gaëtan and Julien having gone for a breather.
These aren't the only changes either. Michael has changed his shirt, the entire Clermont Foot players have changed theirs, and the referee has changed his entire outfit. I can't say that I'm surprised as the first half was wretched in this rain. The rain has eased off considerably now but, rather ominously, we have a howling gale blowing right into Michael's goal.
It seems that early in the second half Clermont Foot score another goal, which I didn't even notice. Someone had a shot at goal and it seemed to me that the ball went well-wide. Michael ran behind his net to pick up the ball and kicked it upfield where the referee spotted the ball.
No mistake about n°5, if it is indeed n°5. Clermont Foot have possession on the left-hand touchline but a lovely diagonal ball right across the field over the heads of the Pionsat defenders finds an attacker in space in the inside right position.
He runs onto the ball and hits a first-time shot and it screams into the corner of the net despite Michael's excellent full-length dive. There wasn't much that any keeper could have done about that one.
Nevertheless, Lady Luck is still out there somewhere for Pionsat, and Michael can be grateful for her presence. One of the Clermont Foot forwards worked the ball all the way down to the goal line on the left-hand side and fired a wicked cross low-down right across the face of the goal.
Michael, with an outfield player's reactions, sticks out a foot to kick the ball away - right into the knees of one of the Clermont Foot players standing less than 3 yards out of goal. The ball could go anywhere from there but this time it goes up in the air and balloons over the Pionsat bar.
We all breathe a sigh of relief with that one.
And another intervention from Lady Luck a few minutes later. Another Clermont Foot player bursts his way into the penalty area and is ruthlessly scythed down by a Pionsat defender's desperate challenge.
A clear and evident penalty of course, and so I didn't at first understand why all of the Pionsat players were protesting so violently, especially when the referee's body-language tells me that he's on the point of reaching into his pocket for his cards.
However, it all becomes clear when a couple of Pionsat defenders, chasing after the referee, move out of my field of vision and I can see the far-side linesman with his flag raised up for offside. Eventually the referee sees it too and reverses his decision, awarding a free kick to the Pionsat defenders.
"Next time, shout if I don't see you!" says the referee to his assistant as calm is restored up at that end of the field.
A few minutes later, Sébastien hobbles off the field, having been on the receiving end of a crunching tackle. As Julien falls back to take Sébastien's place in the centre of defence, we are now left with the desperate spectacle of the Pionsat defence consisting of a striker in goal, two wingers at full-back and two midfielders in central defence. There's not much future in this.
Pionsat lose the ball on the left wing and the Clermont Foot winger pumps yet another high ball into the Pionsat penalty area to test the novice Pionsat defence.
One of the Clermont attackers has a free header on goal but Michael at the near post manages to scramble the ball away for a corner. It's desperate stuff out there at the moment, with all hands on the pumps.
In fact, not just one corner. The desperate Pionsat defenders concede a whole series of corners to keep the ball out of danger - if conceding a corner can be considered "out of danger".
One of these corners, a high ball into the area, is met by a full-blooded charge from a Clermont Foot attacker but Michael rises above everyone and palms the ball off the head of the attacker and over the bar for yet another corner. Quite impressive, that was.
The series of corners comes to an end, and once more it's Michael to the rescue. This particular one is played back to the edge of the penalty area in the inside-right position and the ball is met on the volley by a Clermont Foot attacker.
Once more, Michael gets down well to the ball and hangs on grimly to the shot to take the pressure off his defence who have been pinned back in their own penalty area for the last three or four minutes.
We have a sixth goal for Clermont Foot, similar to the sixth goal last week at Cellule in many respects.
One of the Clermont Foot attackers dribbles his way through the Pionsat defence down to the bye-line but with no options on for him down there, he whacks the ball low into the penalty area more in hope than expectation.
Of course, it is right at that moment that one of the Pionsat defenders is running back to cover the goal-line. The ball hits him and rebounds right into the net. Nothing that he, or anyone else for that matter, could have done about that.
Pionsat are right out of the game now - totally out of breath and off the pace of the game. Clermont Foot on the other hand are running quite rampant and the seventh goal is unfortunately just a formality.
One of the Clermont Foot players wins the ball from a Pionsat midfielder and I'm certain that that was a foul, although the referee disagrees with me. Anyway the ball breaks kindly for the Clermont Foot n°11 who has looked the best player by miles on the pitch, and he scampers off down the pitch.
He works the ball round to the inside-left position and with the goal at his mercy, squeezes it in at Michael's near post as Michael prepares to dive to his right.
Well into stoppage time, Clermont Foot have the time to add another one to their tally, and this one is definitely a shame. They have a good shot on goal and Michael does really well, going full-length yet again to stop the ball.
He can't hang on, and the ball reaches one of their winger who intelligently squares the ball back as all of the Pionsat defenders are anticipating the shot, and an unmarked Clermont Foot midfielder, following up, sidefoots in from about 15 yards.
And so that was that - Pionsat swept aside by a much-better team. Not that anyone was realistically expecting any different, of course, and so no-one is too upset by the result, especially as Pionsat had no goalkeeper and no defenders (not, of course, that any of the players out there didn't perform heroically).
For the first 30 minutes the match was quite even but once Clermont Foot came to terms with the pitch and the appalling conditions and changed up a gear, then that was pretty much that.
In the second half when Pionsat were playing into a driving wind when their desperate full-blooded clearances out weren't going as far as Clermont Foot's sidefooted passes back upfield, there was nothing much that Pionsat could do to relieve the pressure on the defence.
Add onto that the fact that teams like Clermont Foot, with proper trainers and proper fitness regimes, are going to be in much better physical shape than their opponents. Look at any match between two sides playing at different levels in a pyramid - European Club matches are classic examples of this - and you'll always see that the better team scores early before the other team has accustomed itself to the pace, and then goes on to score a couple late in the game when the lesser team runs out of steam. This is exactly what we had here today at Pionsat.
And before anyone says anything, let me just mention two things -
Firstly ... this was not the heaviest defeat of the weekend. There was a match where the score of one team went into double figures.
Secondy ... Clermont Foot beat one of the teams in their own league 8-0 two weeks ago. And if they can turn over teams in their own league like that, teams three or four divisions lower down don't stand too much of a realistic chance.
Still, not to worry. It's just another raccoon-skin on the wall. Back to league action next week. The 2nd XI are playing the Goatslayers.
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