World Footy News

While the football season in most countries has not started yet, in France the domestic season is conducted over the northern winter, and the month of February marks the halfway point of the season. That makes this time of year perfect to review the teams' standing.

In the 4-team Super League, the Bordeaux Bombers are hot favourites after their great 2011-2012 season which saw them winning every possible title. The Paris Cockerels and Toulouse Hawks are determined to regain some of their titles lost to the Bombers, while the Strasbourg Kangourous are hoping to avoid the wooden spoon two years in a row.

In the first round, the Cockerels were no match for their old rival from the east, defeating the Kangourous 168-64. The other game of the day, between the Bombers and the Hawks, had to be postponed due to the pitch being flooded after heavy rains in Toulouse. Bordeaux eventually got the win in the replay, 98-68. The second day of game saw Toulouse easily dispose of Strasbourg (116-36) seriously reducing Strasbourg's chances of a better season.

In Paris, the Bombers and the Cockerels fought hard for the top stop on the ladder, but the Bombers got away with a narrow win (66-62) putting them in an excellent position for the title. For the last games of 2012, Bordeaux hosted a diminished Strasbourg side and easily won, 158-24 and in a repeat of the first game day, Paris had to cancel its travel plan to Toulouse after the pitch was closed due to flooding. The Hawks-Cockerels game has been rescheduled to April.

So far, this season looks like a repeat of last year's, Bordeaux sits on the top of the ladder with Paris hot on their heels, while Toulouse seems to have secured the third spot as it looks unlikely that Strasbourg will be able to get a win by the end of the season. The season is due to resume on the 16th of March, with what might very well be the title decider as Bordeaux hosts Paris. Strasbourg will travel to Toulouse and hope for dry weather.

In the Development League, the Perpignan Tigers had to pull out of the competition due to their limited number of players. They were replaced by newcomer, Cergy Coyottes with Montpellier and Marseille completing the line up. This two leagues format has proved to be a huge success for Montpellier who almost disappeared two years ago, but were able to rally their troops and win the title last year. Marseille comes to this second edition of the league with the hope to steal the title from Montpellier, while Cergy is hoping to improve their skills and gain experience.

Unfortunately Marseille had to forfeit their first game against Montpellier, which means an automatic 100-0 win for the Fire Sharks. Despite low numbers, the Coyottes were able to travel to Montpellier for their first official game. The visitors put in a good contest in the first quarter, trailing by only two goals. But an almost scoreless second quarter put an end to the Coyottes hope of a first victory. The Fire Sharks won 146-51 securing their lead in race for the title.