BRITAIN HUMBLED BY FRANCE
Reigning champions France reminded hosts Great Britain of
the work that is required on their return to the European
fold and ahead of London 2012 with a 12-6 victory on Day Two
of the LEN European Nations Trophy at the Manchester Aquatics
Centre.
France captain Frederic Audon - the tournament's leading
scorer after the first round of matches and the leading marksman
in the 2006 FINA World League - took his tally in the competition
to 16 with six goals in the match, including one in the second
quarter when France did a 6-1 demolition job on their cross-Channel
neighbours.
Lancaster's Tom Curwen scored a hat-trick, including two
in a much-improved second-half performance from Britain.
Audon opened the scoring after 38 seconds beating Manchester
goalkeeper Ed Scott with a shot to the top corner, and added
a second with 1 minute 53 seconds to go. He continued to be
the biggest threat to Britain with his outside shooting, but
Scott was equal to his efforts on two further occasions. Britain
spurned the chance to draw level when they rushed two extra-man
opportunities and Scott was in action again, turning a shot
from Arnaud Jablonski over the bar.
France extended their lead in the second through Audon's
delicate lob. Curwen pulled a goal back when Jean Baptiste
Favry was excluded, drilling the ball beyond Jonathan Moriame
from the left wing.
Marc Amardeilh scored a bounce shot to restore France's three-goal
lead and centre forward Mickael Bodegas added a fifth soon
afterwards. Bodegas claimed his second when Britain's defence
was caught napping. Quentin Chipotel then scored on the fast
break and Yann Vergeade added an eighth with a minute to go
in the second period.
Audon scored his fourth when Chris Gilbertson was sent out
for a foul on Bodegas early in the third quarter. Audon then
grabbed a fifth and then a sixth following Andrew Squires'
exclusion.
Lancaster's Scott Carpenter forced the ball under Moriame's
arm to pull one back. Carpenter's club mate Squires then fired
into the top corner for Britain's second goal of the period.
Captain Craig Figes then got in on the act, scoring from the
left wing with 1.8 seconds of the period remaining after Yann
Clay had received his second exclusion of the game.
Tom Curwen scored his second goal of the game with 2 minutes
20 seconds to go, breaking the fourth-quarter stalemate. Romain
Blary scored his first goal of the game for France to cancel-out
Curwen's effort.
When Jablonski was excluded with 26.1 seconds remaining Eelco
Uri called a time-out for Britain and Curwen claimed his third
of the match for the resulting 6-on-5.
Result: 12-6 (2-0; 6-1; 3-3; 1-2)
France: 1 Jonathan Moriame, 2 Romain Blary (1 goal), 3 Arnaud
Jablonski, 4 Frederic Audon (Capt, 6), 5 Yann Vergeade (1),
6 Remi Saudadier, 7 Mickael Bodegas (2), 8 Jean Baptiste Favry,
9 Yann Vernoux, 10 Yann Clay, 11 Marc Amardeilh (1), 12 Quentin
Chipotel (1), 13 Soufien Riabi
Great Britain: 1 Ed Scott, 2 Sean Ryder, 3 Mark Banwell,
4 Scott Carpenter (1 goal), 5 Craig Figes (Capt, 1), 6 Andrew
Squires (1), 7 Alex Parsonage, 8 Tom Curwen (3), 9 Rob Parker,
10 Adam Scholefield, 11 Chris Gilbertson, 12 Matthew Thresher,
13 Matthew Birch
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