TONY GIGOT’s golden-point interception try gave Albi victory over Lord Derby Trophy holders Carcassonne to send his side into the final at Narbonne on April 5th.
And what a match it was, full of incident and suspense, in which eleven tries were scored.
Albi charged into the lead as centre Hnaloan Budden cut through to touch down and then, from Gigot’s 40/20, the excellent Chase Bernard crashed over for a 10-0 lead.
But as Carcassonne halfbacks Lucas Albert and Clément Herrero began to take control, the Canaries hit back when Albert’s high kick was tapped back for Walid Bouregba to touch down.
From Alexis Alberola’s astute passing from dummy-half, Clément Boyer and Bastien Canet both strolled over to take advantage of holes in Albi’s defence. With Herrero’s conversions and a penalty, Carcassonne took a 20-12 half-time lead.
A yellow card for Herrero at the start of the second half gave Albi numerical superiority.
Corentin Le Cam stretched out for the first try of the second half before putting up an unexpected high kick from which Clément Tailhades scored. Gigot’s conversions put Albi back in the lead at 24-20, which was extended when the former Catalan Dragon put Budden over for his second and a ten-point lead.
But two tries in five minutes from right winger Georgy Gambaro brought Carcassonne back.
Herrero landed the first conversion from touch but could not goal the second, bringing the scores level with six minutes left.
Three times Gigot failed with drop-kick attempts towards the end of regular time but then dealt the killer blow with his interception from 20 metres out.
In the second, much less spectacular, semi-final, St Estève-XIII Catalan got the better of Toulouse, winning 16-0.
Overwhelming favourites, the Catalans, who had beaten Toulouse 44-4 in the league the week before, struggled to find their rhythm while Toulouse defended bravely but had little to offer in attack.
Catalan winger Corentin Rey scored the only try of the first half, but the second try, scored by Léo Llong, came as late as the 61st minute.
Three minutes later, winger Léo Darrelatour took Bruno Castany’s high kick to touch down in the corner and settle the outcome.
Results
Coupe de France semi-finals
Albi 34 Carcassonne 30 (at Stade Ernest Wallon, Toulouse)
St Estève-XIII Catalan 16 Toulouse 0 (at Stade du Moulin, Lézignan)
Super XIII
Pia 54 St Gaudens 12
Fixtures
Super XIII
Saturday 29 March
Lézignan v Limoux 16:00
Toulouse v Albi 16:00
Sunday 30 March
Carcassonne v St Estève-XIII Catalan 16:00
Pia v Villeneuve 15:00
Villefranche v Avignon 15:00
