It’s D-Day for the Union Sud Mayenne handball players. This Saturday, June 11, they are playing in the final of the French regional cup, a cup reserved for amateur clubs at the regional level. The Mayenne team is having an incredible season with a climb to National 3 and a final to be played.
Union Sud Mayenne players have been waiting for this final since April 17. Tristan Gaillard, one of the two goalkeepers, is impatient: “I can’t wait to enjoy this adventure. It’s been a long time for almost two months. At the beginning, we don’t realize, we try to imagine a little and there, I am more and more impatient.“
A few hours before the final, the pressure is mounting admits one of the team’s experienced players, Enguerrand Mulon: “the pressure is actually rising. Me, I thought it was not going to go up that much but in fact, that’s it, we can feel the enthusiasm. This final has really been on people’s minds since this week. I am also an employee at the club and to see all the groups of young people who will come to watch this match, it’s incredible. They’re going all out and it’s going to be crazy.“
And the player’s little boy, Léonard (8 months only) will be in the stands. The stands of Bercy, this mythical hall for French sport and handball explains Alexis Huaulmé, one of the two coaches of the USM men’s team: “the players are going to step onto the Bercy pitch for the first time and I’m going to step onto the Bercy pitch for the first time as a coach. It’s unique, it’s exceptional. We’re still a small club and so it’s huge to play at Bercy in the biggest handball hall in France. An emblematic place with titles conquered by our French team in this room, in 2017 for the boys and in 2018 for the girls. So yes, for us, it is exceptional.“
More than 600 Mayenne supporters at Bercy
Seven coaches and more than 600 Mayenne supporters will travel to Paris to encourage the Sud Mayenne team. Hervé Blottière, co-trainer, is delighted: “we have lots of encouragement from the whole department and it is unifying for handball. I think it’s a turning point for this sport in Mayenne because there is a women’s team that is going up in National 3 in Évron and our team is also climbing while being undefeated this season and there, we saw this little icing on the cake which really goes to be a good time and a good memory for the guys.“
The club’s emblem is the black panther. The claws will definitely be out this Saturday afternoon at the Accor Arena in Bercy. Match against the Palaiseau team at 4:30 p.m. Undefeated this season, in all competitions, the USM boys will try to join the winners of this regional cup, the girls of Ambrières-les-Vallées, crowned in 2010.
The Union Sud Mayenne team
- 2. Kilian Bescher
- 3. Lucas Thibault
- 4. Corentin Gaillard
- 5. Hugo Carre
- 6. Remy Chagrani
- 7. Axel Morel
- 10. Jarod Cosnard
- 11. Adrien Morel (captain)
- 13. Timothée Blottiere
- 16. Tristan Gaillard (goalkeeper)
- 17. Arnaud Brice
- 18. Enguerrand Mulon
- 22. Nicolas Fournier (goalkeeper)
- 33. Antonin Blottiere
Coaches: Alexis Huaulmé and Hervé Blottière
Course in the regional French cup
- 1st round: US Lifré – USM 30-37
- 2nd round: AS Chantempie – USM 36-38
- 3rd round: Carquefou – USM 48-49 after TAB
- 4th round: USM – Redon 41-28
- 16th final: USM – Bay of Armor 27-19
- 8th final: USM -Sautron 23-21
- Quarterfinal : USM – US Orleans 28-27
- Semi-final: Eysines – USM 24-33