Football: CO Castelnaudary in all logic

In the semi-finals of Coupe Lopez, Naurouze-Labastide-Castelnaudary will face off in the final.

A stifling heat enveloped the Castelnaudary stadium as the two teams began the match. The initial observations lasted longer than usual for the 22 players who tried not to exert themselves too quickly. Despite R1’s dominance, R2’s defense held strong. It wasn’t until the 24th minute that a very poor pass back from a visiting defender was intercepted by Mendy, who put his team in the lead (1-0).

Thirty minutes in, J. Manzato was guilty of a jersey tug worthy of a rugby player. Excited, Ridel grabbed the Cociste and pushed his face violently against the fence, resulting in a scuffle.

Intensity: However, the match did not escape the excellent referee Mr. Moumaiz, who first gave a yellow card to J. Manzato, then a second to El Khelfi, who came to his defense, and, of course, a red card to Ridel of FCCM. Despite this lengthy interruption, the game resumed without further incidents.

In the 35th minute, the visiting goalkeeper Masobe cleared a header from Veyrier, but Mendy, lurking, seized the opportunity and scored the second goal for Chaurien.

After the break, with 10 against 11 and under the heat, the maritime team struggled. Believing in an offside call, their defense stopped and Mendy ran in to score his third goal of the match. The intensity of the game decreased due to the temperature and multiple substitutions. On a counterattack, FCCM salvaged some pride by pulling one back to make it 3-1 thanks to Lopez-Dual. The latter part of the game was dominated by Cociste, and after an hour of play, Veyrier sealed the fourth goal for his team (4-1).

At the same time, Naurouze-Labastide (R3) defeated Pezens (D1) 3-0, setting up a 100% Lauragaise final in Coupe Lopez. It is unfortunate that the final will be played in Narbonne.