Handball: Toulon women secure their survival in style at Sambre-Avesnois

In a tense survival finale, Toulon Métropole Var handball was not to be missed yesterday afternoon in Sambre-Avesnois. And Rémi Faugeres's girls secured their future at this level next season by winning 26-32 on northern soil.

"We're really relieved because it was the match that secured our survival, even if there were calculations everywhere ," said Toulon right-back Norah Folituu. "We're finishing on this good note, even if the core of this team is breaking a little because half the squad is leaving."

Masters of their destiny, the Varoises were on a mission in the North and took the upper hand from the start of the match, having already opened up a gap in around ten minutes (7-4, ^11th ).

Fast play, solid defense and a great desire: it was with this beautiful face and a five-goal lead that TMV returned to the locker room (18-13 at half-time).

"We wanted to earn our keep-up"

A first period that perfectly met the expectations of coach Rémi Faugeres: "We especially didn't want to look at what was happening elsewhere, we also wanted to earn our place in the league. We were on a good run, we had already won four of them in seven matches, and we wanted to come and get a fifth victory here. We wanted to be able to control things and not wait for what happened in the other direct confrontation (between Saint-Amand and Saint-Maur). "

In the second half, Sambre increased the pressure but yesterday, nothing seemed able to destabilize Toulon. On the contrary, with the same character as in previous days, the Varoises continued to widen the gap (23-17, ^38th ).

But, in a very hot room with a Sambrien kop "on the ball", the Toulonnaises were still going to give themselves a little scare, notably thanks to a Toubissa Elbeco who produced sensational saves (6 saves out of 28). Fortunately, the offensive armada was out with an XXL performance from Adriana Cardoso (12 goals out of 14 shots).

With this great victory, the TMV can leave this 2024-2025 season with new ambitions to achieve a 2025-2026 season in the image of this wonderful end of the championship, notably with a league which will be much more complicated, going from one to three potential relegations.