Bergerac in the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France by beating Saint-Étienne

Everything took shape in the 75th minute. After an hour and a quarter of a balanced match, where Bergerac had tied with Saint-Étienne and had obtained two good situations by Adrian Sahibeddine, the BPFC striker Romain Escarpit, who came into play six minutes earlier, came deceive Paul Bernardoni, to register what was going to be the only one of the meeting.

“There is a cross coming, I am a little too short, it comes back to Romain Escarpit”says winger Axel Tressens. “I believe in it until the end, I see the ball coming back to me, I stretch my foot, I hit it with the outside of my right foot and it’s a goal”, picks up the scorer. “And there you can’t even imagine”, adds Tressens. “It’s going fast, I see the ball in the back of the net”, describes Escarpit. “It’s a lot of emotions, joy. And I try to share with the public and the whole team”.

What follows is a mad dash by the Basque striker towards the stand, a communion with the public… Then another high-flying quarter of an hour, where Bergerac will have two huge chances to lead 2-0where Saint-Étienne will no longer be dangerous. “We played to our strengths, we stuck to our game plan and we were effective on transitions, so I think it’s deserved,” analyzes midfielder Lucas Dumai, an impeccable replacement for injured Paul Maisonneuve. The result of a plan well prepared by coach Erwan Lannuzel, who had “Asked the players to build their victory in the second half. We had to start well, let them get out of balance and try to hurt on transitions. We did it”.

We deserve to be where we are

Solidarity nurtured around this incredible series of 19 games without defeat. “We deserve to be where we are and we will continue like this, we will not let go”, assures Escarpit again. “We are in eight games without conceding a goal in the Coupe de France. It’s extraordinary, we like it”, savor Dumai. An even stronger “kiffance” for Sam Ducros. Born in Bergerac, the side is the only survivor of 2017 epic, where Bergerac had stopped in the round of 16.

Highlight this great region and this magnificent department of the Dordogne

“Seeing the stadium like that is magnificent,” smiled the Périgourdin. We play sports to experience these kinds of emotions. That moment, we can’t steal it, it’s magic. Highlighting this great region and this magnificent department of the Dordogne through sport and football is great. All the more because we know that here, we are still more a land of rugby”, said the man from Lalinde, like the… rugby player Jefferson Poirot, who gave the fictitious kick-off.

There are only eight teams left and we are in.

The party was long in the locker room, where, in the confusion, Erwan Lannuzel took a long time to be able to speak to his men. “I’m proud of them”, said the Basque coach. “The National 2 championship is a very demanding championship because we train them almost like professionals, with conditions that are those of amateur clubs. These are precarious contracts, not big salaries”. “We don’t even realize it yet. There are only eight teams left and we’re in it. It’s huge”, resumes Escarpit.

Place at draw, this Monday evening (Marseille, Nantes, Monaco, Amiens, Bastia, Versailles and the winner of PSG-Nice are the possible opponents), then on the quarter-final, February 8 or 9. But meanwhile, “we are going to prepare for our reality, Friday evening, the Chamalières match”recalled, Sunday evening, the very serious Erwan Lannuzel.