Paris (AFP)

Clermont will accompany Troyes in Ligue 1 next season, despite his defeat on Sunday on the last day in Caen (2-1), which allows the Normans to save themselves in extremis and sends Chambly, beaten at Paris FC (3-0) , in National 1 and Niort (18th) in jump-offs.

The Auvergnats were almost guaranteed to be promoted to the elite for the first time in their history, it was still necessary to validate their rise and they did so on the lawn of Caen, keeping two points ahead of Toulouse (3rd ), held in check at Dunkirk (3-3) and condemned to a frustrating third place.

A year after their descent from L1, the Haut-Garonnais have not however given up any chance of regaining the elite, but this will require winning a play-off match, then defeating the 18th in L1 in a first leg play-offs. return at the end of May.

At the bottom of the standings, Chambly will be accompanying Châteauroux in the third division next season.

The players of Oise, long dropped in the depths of the classification before recovering and believing in the maintenance, faltered on the lawn of Paris FC (3-0), which validates its place for the play-offs with a 5th final row.

And so it is ultimately Niort who finished in 18th place and will face the Villefranche team, 3rd in National 1, during round-trip play-offs scheduled for May 19 and 22 ... The Chamois, beaten 2-0 at home by Guingamp, made one of the worst operations of the evening, doubled at the last second by the Stade Malherbe de Caen.

- Caen has come a long way -

Because the Malherbistes, who feared to find the 3rd division for the first time since the 1983-1984 season, emerged victorious from Clermont in the 93rd minute, thanks to a penalty from Benjamin Jeannot ...

"When you save a club like that, it's the most beautiful (moment) of my career," savored the striker at the microphone of beIN Sports.

More than 200 supporters had come near the Ornano stadium to proclaim their support despite their dissatisfaction with the Normans' performance before the match.

"We're here, we're here, even if you don't deserve it, for the love of the jersey you're wearing on your back, we're here," they sang, according to an AFP journalist.

They probably held their breath for a long time after the red card severely sent from the 38th minute to the young Loup Hervieu, who was celebrating his first tenure in L2 ... But the Calvadosian youth lined up on Saturday (7 players aged 21 or less at the stroke of 'sending!) finally won an improbable success in the face of the future promoted ... A result that suits the two teams.

Higher in the ranking, behind the champion Troyes, Clermont and Toulouse (3rd), the places of honor were contested until the last day.

4th place finally returns to Grenoble, winner 1-0 at Rodez, and 5th at Paris FC, while Auxerre, winner at Sochaux (3-2), fails in 6th place and says goodbye to the dream of climbing.

Grenoblois and Parisians will meet again on Tuesday in Isère for the first play-off match of this L2.

The winner of this meeting will then travel to Toulouse on Friday, and the team that emerges victorious from this duel will have the honor of playing its place in Ligue 1 against the 18th of the elite on May 27 and 30.

Other facts to remember from this last night of L2: the Clermontois Mohamed Bayo finished top scorer in the Championship (22 goals), while Dunkirk also escaped in extremis thanks to the goal difference after his draw, which allowed him to total 41 points, or as many as Niort and Caen ...

© 2021 AFP