Football: Nîmes, 90 minutes to survive…

À Lattes, les Nîmoises tenteront de décrocher leur maintien et retrouver le sourire.

As part of the 21st day of Women's Division 3, Nîmes Métropole Gard (10th, 14 points) plays a crucial match for its maintenance, Sunday May 19 at 3 p.m., in Lattes (9th, 17 points) . If successful, the Gardoises would almost be saved while a setback would almost send them to R1.

Sunday, around 5 p.m., the walls of the visitor locker room of the Roger Andrieu sports complex, in Lattes, should remember the visit of the Nîmoises, as long as they leave Hérault with the three points. A victory would almost ensure their continued existence in the federal world… and the descent of Lattes, in R1.
Problem, because there is one, and a big one: shaking the walls of the locker room, Olivier Bonnes' players no longer really know what that means, without a victory since… November 5, 2023 and the reception of Colomiers (1-0). Six months of drought with 5 draws and 9 defeats over the period! ''I see that the girls, since the match not played against Puy (6-0 defeat at home), were really affected, revealed President Laurent Pouget. This week I went to all the training sessions. Each time, the girls tell me not to worry, that they will do everything over the weekend to get there. But there you go, what…''

Complicated on and off the field

Here, what… Nîmes, first relegated, is playing its season and its future in D3 away, facing a Latvian opponent three points ahead in the standings and just above the red zone. &#39 ;'We absolutely have to win, warns the president. Even with a draw, we would go down.''& nbsp;A damn share of points (2-2) on the first leg, with this Latvian goal at the… 90th minute, which, in the end, could be very expensive.
If the FFNMG is going to play its sporting survival on the field, behind the scenes, this season, everyone resisted. ''Let's say that we did the best we could and that we had to deal with a lot of problems at the start of the season…'' , recalls Laurent Pouget, first year at the post.

A club kept afloat financially

A president who has a lot of money: ''Me, I'm passionate about football and the only thing that What I regret about the start of the season is that I got involved with people who put a bit of a damper on me. We tried to round the corners. We managed, with Ludovic Aparicio, Martine Joly and everyone in the office, to recover financially and keep the club afloat.'' The accounts will be + 3 000 € end of May 2024. A first victory.
After the leaders have maintained the club, off the field, will the players do the same, with the ball at their feet ? As the 22nd and final day, next Sunday, should not change anything &ndash ; Nîmes – Grenoble (3rd); Le Puy (6th) – Slats – everything will be played out in Lattes. The walls just have to hold on well…

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