Corsican Dreams, French Revolution: Part 4
Every good story needs a good villain, but the best tales are when the hero discovers they are their own worst enemy.
Nothing better describes Bastia-Borgo’s run as the club limped through the month of November. Despite the big win over their local rivals, they could only manage draws against FC Villefranche and US Avranches, and despite being 2–1 up over struggling Red Star FC, you guessed it, an injury time equaliser from Nathan Bizet cancelled out Wilson Isidor’s double.
Both the home sides goals came after Cheick Doumbia picked up a second yellow card in the 60th minute. History would repeat itself in the Eighth Round of the Coupe de France as François Lajugie saw a straight red after 10 minutes and after going 1–0 down, there was no way back from the third tier side against Genêts Angler from the fifth division.
Although there had been some bumps in the road, hopes were the club could reach the Ninth round of the cup and potentially pick up a big name side to raise much needed funds. The board saw the bigger picture and weren’t put off and acknowledged the fact Padovani’s side were sitting in fourth spot and handed the coach a one-year extension to his original contract.
As a way of celebration, the club endured a barnstorming 5–5 draw with FC Annecy, struggling although the away side were rooted down in the relegation zone.
From 3–1 up and cruising, they found themselves pegged back, then to go from 4–3 up to 5–4 down was almost criminal. With six minutes to go Jean-François Grimaldi pinged in a fabulous strike from the edge of the area to save FCBB’s blushes.
Wilson Isidor would again show himself to be Bastia-Borgo’s X-Factor, hitting a hat-trick to dispatch US Boulogne 4–1 on the road. Yet, just when you think they are about to go on another run, the wheels would fall off and the small squad hit the sort of form everyone was expecting at the start of the season.
Over the next three games, they would only score three times, conceding nine, failing to pick up any points and dropping to eighth in the table.
Padovani joked himself about anyone at the club being upset with a place at mid-table, but the facts were there, no one in the National has scored as many goals as FCBB. They were leaky in defence, but nowhere near the levels many had predicted. The season was a roaring success, but there was just a sense of being able to achieve more.
What didn’t help the club was the departure of Yannis N’Gakoutou for €80k in January. The full-back said the club had made promises to him on his arrival, but Padovani had failed to keep up his end of the deal. Neither side would stand down and the club had no choice but to honour his wishes.
An opportunity missed, with what looks like a very promising player. 15 appearances, two assists, and big shoes to fill. Padovani would move quickly and although there was talk of veteran defender and once touted wonderkid, Anthony Vanden Borre, joining the club, no one would admit the interest was real and when former Barcelona B defender Joan Campins signed to replace N’Gakoutou, the AVB rumours stopped.
Not one to keep banging on a broken drum, Padovani made some tweaks. The overall gameplan was the same. Win the ball back and hit with balls over the top to Isidor, or advance through the full-backs down the channels.
Playing with three centre-backs and three central midfielders meant the team could squeeze the opposition when they reach the final third. Gives them an extra man in the middle of the park to win possession, but you lose a forward in attack.
It worked. Sparked by a 3–2 win over SC Lyon, FC Sete, US Concarneau and SO Cholet fell in close games. Only five goals conceded in five meant FCBB looked a much tighter unit, but seven from their star striker suggested they hadn’t become weaker going forward.
The soon to be France Under-21 international would add another two as they recorded a 4–2 win over Stade Briochin, setting a new club record of six-straight wins, but most importantly, they had climbed back up to third and were serious promotion contenders once again.
Standing in the way of win no.7 would be league leaders SC Bastia making the short trip down the road to Borgo, eager to extract some revenge for earlier in the season. A result that could make or break how the last eight games of the campaign played out for both sides.
Bastia-Borgo would need to collapse internally to not stay up, but being so high up the table at this stage of the season, they have come too far to just accept mid-table mediocrity.
