ASM Belfort — Colmar SR (27-05-2023)

We arrive in Belfort about 10 minutes before kick-off, at 18.00, park next to the stadium, and join a few people in front of the oddly shaped ticket office. We buy a general ticket for €8 and enter the stadium.

The Stade Roger Serzian is a classic athletics stadium with a huge (blue) track lane, one old brick stand on the long side, and a few uncovered seats on the other long side. We sit there because it is in the sun.

There are about 300 people, including some two dozen away fans (Colmar is just 71 km away), and a small group of kids with some homemade flags and a drum for the ultras atmosphere. The audience is mostly local and older but quite racially mixed.

The game is in the Championnat National 2 (Fourth Division), Group B. ASM Belfort is still fighting against relegation, while Colmar is mid-table. Unsurprisingly, Belfort works harder but Colmar is the better team.

In the 26th minute, a weird free kick leads to close-up safe by the goalie and a series of corners for Belfort. A few minutes later, a Colmar corner almost goes in, but the goalkeeper is able to deflect the ball.

In the 33rd minute, a cross is deflected and is picked up by a striker who tips it over the sliding goalie: lucky but well finished: 0-1. Eight minutes later, out of nowhere, a great cross puts a Colmar player totally free in front of the goal, but the shot is too weak and the goalie saves. The corner also leads to a safe by the goalie, so the half time score is 0-1.

Very little happens in the second half. Colmar doesn’t try and Belfort gets more and more physical, kicking at everything that moves. In the last 20 minutes, the Belfort goalie shoots everything into the Colmar half. There is no build-up from the back anymore.

This opportunistic play does lead to a series of chances and half-chances for the home team. In the 83rd minute a free kick is headed in and saved on the line. Belfort players claim hand ball but the referee says no. In the 88th minute a cross is headed in from the box but well wide. The next minute a corner is hit out by the goalkeeper and a player picks it up, turns around and hits it just over.

Even in the 9 minutes of extra time Belfort gets chances, including a free header from 5 meter that is straight at the goalie and a hard cross that is half-volleyed in the box but bounces over the goal. Final score: 0-1.

Although the distraught reaction of Belfort is understandable, they relegate (check), the happiness of Colmar and its fans is more difficult to understand, as they didn’t play for anything anymore. Still, a pretty nice groundhop.