World Footy News

This weekend’s clash between the Cergy-Pontoise Coyotes and the Bordeaux Bombers may go a long way towards shaping the 2013/14 finals of the CNFA competition in France. With just seven matches remaining before the finals, the Coyotes feature in three of them and may well hold the key to which teams makes the finals.

The Coyotes have done little wrong this season, yet through the anomalies of the draw they sit currently in fifth place. So far this season they have trounced the Strasbourg Kangaroos, won a memorable one point game against their cross town Parisian neighbours the Paris Cockerels and went down by just four points to the Montpellier Fire Sharks who are also in finals contention.

With a run home against the bottom placed ALFA Lions and top placed Toulouse Hawks, this weekend’s match might well be the game upon which their finals hopes rest. A win against the Bombers, and one more, might see them leapfrog the Fire Sharks (currently fourth) and the Bombers (sitting third).

The Toulouse Hawks sit undefeated on top of the ladder with four wins, and their clash with the Coyotes in the final home and away match of the year seems the only possible upset. They deserve premiership favouritism, however the Paris Cockerels are breathing down their necks just a game behind. The sobering thought for the Cockerels is that their last meeting with the Hawks resulting in a 95 point hiding. Paris would need to find a quite dramatic turnaround of that result to win this year’s flag. Their only remaining game for the home and away season is against fellow finals aspirants, the Fire Sharks.

To keep the Coyotes at bay, both the Fire Sharks and the Bombers need to win at least one of their remaining two matches. Both play the Strasbourg Kangaroos, so should achieve that goal as the kangaroos have struggled this year. The Bombers other game is the clash this weekend with the Coyotes. Maybe their destiny will be decided this weekend. The Fire Sharks have a tougher game coming up against the Paris Cockerels.

The ALFA Lions from Lyon have been on the end of some significant losing margins this season, and their final matches this season will be against the rampant Hawks and the finals-minded Coyotes. Results may not improve on paper, but the experience gained in their first full season will prepare them well for coming years.

There may only be seven games remaining in the CNFA season, but each one will have some bearing on the make-up of the 2013/14 season finals series. It makes for an interesting couple of months of footy in France.