The first leg ended yesterday with the 11th day of the season, synonymous with a winter break for the D2, before the resumption of the championship mid-January. In Group B, Dijon is now the only leader after winning against Grenoble, while Ambilly signed his first victory in Montauban. In group A, FC Metz retain the reins, while Arras and Brest ended the year well.


Group A - A trio of heads unchanged


A trio leading the party this weekend in group A, with FC Metz, Arras and Reims who won Sunday for the last day of the first leg. A final lap before the truce that confirms the hierarchy, with FC Metz well installed in the lead.

The Messines won at home against La Roche-sur-Yon on the score of three goals to one (3-1). An advantage to the score that was drawn in the first period, with a first goal scored by Melissa Godart on corner. A head stitched at the far post that allows the Lorraine players to turn in the lead after the quarter of an hour of play (18th). Before the break, Valérie Sanderson added a second goal for the Grenats with a shot at the entrance to the surface that lobes the Yonnaise goalkeeper before finishing in the small net opposite.

At the end of the match, Léa Khelifi added a third goal for Metz (86th) before Claire Paillat reduced the gap in favor of the ESOF in stoppage time. A ninth victory for Metz to conclude this first leg, and four points ahead of Arras, who keeps his second place after his victory in the Hauts-de-Seine against FF Issy.

The Ile-de-France players bowed (1-2) in a game where the three goals of the day were scored after the break. It was Pauline Crammer who opened the scoring in the 53rd minute before Audrey Tabary allowed the Nordsters to take a break at the hour of play. Nonna Debonne then scored the goal in the 69th minute, but it will not not to reverse the trend in this game.

Arras ended the year 2017 in a whirlwind with six consecutive wins, before receiving FC Metz in January, in a match at the top and important in the race for the D1. The Stade de Reims completed the podium at the end of this first phase, seven points behind the leader Metz. Les Rémoises won 2-0 in Champagne against Angers with goals from their top two scorers, Melissa Gomes and Tetyana Romanenko, each with one goal in the match.


Brest plumb Lorient, the regrets of Le Mans


Angers on his side sees Brest pass him in front of the standings, and retrograde to ninth place. Stade Brestois is one of the teams to finish well this phase go in group A, with three victories to finish, facing Angers, La Roche and this weekend against Lorient. A series that allows the Breton club to now have nine points ahead of the first relegable, Le Mans and seven on Issy who occupies the place of barrage.

This week, the trend has therefore confirmed for Brest with a 4-0 win against Lorient. A result which is conversely a bad operation for Lorient, which occupies the last place of the ranking. Eva Sumo scored twice in this match after opening the scoring at the end of the first period. Solenne Ninot and Anaïs Ribeyra also scored in this match.

Lorient who finished the year at the bottom of the table, tied for points with Le Mans who lost (4-5) at home against VGA Saint-Maur. A meeting that will probably leave regrets to the Mancelles who counted up to two goals in advance, before finally giving up the three points late in the game. It was Chloé Pierel who scored the first goal of the day, in favor of the VGA. Just arrived from Paris FC, the vice-champion of Europe U19 opens the scoring in the third minute of the game.

Le Mans then equalized in the 25th minute of the game on corner by Marion Pelletier who will register the four goals of the day. After the break, the match is packed with five goals scored in the space of ten minutes. Le Mans made the first break with two goals scored against (48 and 51) but in the wake of Melissa Sorel (51), entry late in the first period, then Laurie Teinturier (56) brought Saint-Maur up. Marion Pelletier scored her fourth goal of the day in the 57th minute and Le Mans took the lead again.

But at the end of the match, the VGA managed to score two goals by Elise Legrout, who manages to lob the goaltender from afar, then Laurie Teinturier who offers himself a double and gives victory to Saint-Maur. A cruel scenario for Le Mans while Saint-Maur finishes the year in fourth place, a point ahead of Saint-Malo who was held in check on his lawn against Rouen (1-1).

Group B - The summit for Dijon


To finish the year, the two leaders of group B had an appointment in Burgundy. Dijon and Grenoble tied before this match, had the opportunity to take the lead alone in case of victory in this game. And in this game, it was Dijon who made the difference at home, with a 1-0 win thanks to a goal from Laura Bouillot, top goal scorer Dijon on this first half of the season.

After a first game where Dijon creates several opportunities, the opening comes in the 23rd minute after a strike by Ophélie Cuynet, pushed back by Cindy Perrault. The ball remains in play in the box and Laura Bouillot sends it to the bottom of the nets Grenoble. This will be the only goal of the meeting, despite opportunities on both sides, including the lob of Laurianne Cervera for Grenoble, saved on her line by Tatiana Solanet come replace Emmeline Mainguy battered (62).

This success allows Dijon to break away in the standings, with three points ahead of Grenoble, but also Nancy who temporarily takes second place in the GF38. The Lorraine players went to win the victory in Alsace on the lawn of Vendenheim. A 2-0 success with a double Marlyse Ngo Ndoumbouk who crossed the bar of twenty goals this (21 goals). Two goals scored in the first half by the Franco-Cameroonian striker (20th and 42nd) while returning from the locker room, Vendenheim tried in vain to return to the score.


The first Ambilly victory


Promoted Nancy are therefore invited in the fight for the climb, with Dijon, Grenoble and Saint-Etienne who saw his match against ESAP Metz postponed. The Vertes will have to wait before being able to possibly stick to the group of head.

=> Saint-Etienne - Metz ESAP and Aurillac-Arpajon - Nîmes reported

In the bottom of the table, the good operation of the weekend is to put in the assets of Ambilly who won his first win of the season on the lawn of Montauban (0-1). The Savoyard goal was scored shortly after the hour by Shannon Fayolle (62). These three points allowed Ambilly to temporarily leave the last place in the standings and move closer to Aurillac-Arpajon, current tenth. Despite this, the effect of this result is partly conditioned by the outcome of the meeting between FC2A and Nîmes, now red lantern, a meeting that has also been postponed.

Also this weekend, Toulouse and Yzeure were neutralized (0-0) on the turf of the TFC, a result that does not arrange any of the two teams, kept away from the top three.