Tremble beat Besançon 37-28 in the Coupe de France on Tuesday evening, extending their run of good form while the home side added another defeat to a string of them. The visitors took control early and never looked back, closing out the match with comfortable margins despite Besançon's attempts to stay within reach.
And here's the thing about this result — it was exactly what I called for before kickoff. Eighty per cent confidence in the away side, and Tremble delivered on that prediction. They came into the fixture having won their last five matches, while Besançon had lost each of their previous five outings. The form gap was obvious, and the scoreline reflected it.
Besançon's recent record reads like a catalogue of narrow defeats: 31-38 against Centre, 34-36 to Bourg-Péronnas, 31-23 to Val-d'Oise, 28-32 versus Créteil, and 29-25 against Sélestat Alsace. Each game they stayed competitive for stretches before fading. To be fair, they did not collapse in this one either, but Tremble's consistency over the last month made the difference.
The visitors have kept winning since August, with results including a 44-31 demolition of Chambéry Savoie, a 36-30 win over Saint-Raphaël, and 30-35 against Chartres. They lost only once in that period, a 28-38 defeat to Nantes, and bounced back immediately. By then it was clear they were playing at a different level to Besançon.
The final margin of nine goals tells the story without embellishment. Besançon will have to find answers quickly if they want to turn things around, while Tremble can take confidence from maintaining their winning run on the road. The Coupe de France provides opportunities like this, and the visitors made the most of it.
