A crucial game for the SCA (the sports club Albi) this Sunday. Five years after being relegated from Pro D2, Albi is ready to return to professional level. After the victory last week against Massy 21 to 9, the SCA even leaves with a little lead (12 points) in Essonne.
Against Massy’s Armada
But 80 minutes from happiness, after many disappointments in previous years (The SCA disputed four Federal 1 and National semi-finals in five years, since his demotion in 2017) the Albigensians do not boast at all. Massy was the undisputed leader of the National season, an “armada” says manager Mathieu Bonello. He therefore wanted a “totally normal week” for these players, so that they would feel as little pressure as possible.
The Tarnais is betting on pleasure, which measures the stakes of this ascent. “Being from Albi, I know the past, the history. I know all that, people tell me quite often. But the important thing is to arrive with lightness, enthusiasm, take this pleasure that leads you to unexpected things. You have to have the banana. This week, it’s one more match in our history.” The manager Mathieu Bonello who never utters the word PRO D2, as if he didn’t want to admit a possible rise yet.
– SM
After years of waiting
Very disappointed over the years, the Albigensian supporters did not not ignited so far. But the victories against Chambéry and Massy in the first leg made believe in a possible rise. And so all the yellow and black supporters start dreaming. “We can only be at the bottom. We’ve been waiting for this for a few years. And then for the image of the club, for the finances, for the city, going back to Pro D2 would change everything.”
Kick-off for these return semi-finals on Sunday May 29 (7 p.m.). The two finalist clubs will access the Pro D2. A hundred people (with two buses) are expected in Massy.