The draw for the round of 16 of the Gard Lozère Cup took place on Thursday at the headquarters of the Gard-Lozère football district in Nîmes. While the favorites managed to avoid each other, some exciting matchups were randomly selected.
Nîmes Olympique’s reserve team (R1) will host the defending champions Aimargues (R3), while OAC’s reserve team (R2) will face Saint-Privat (R3). The draw was kinder to Vauvert (R1) who will visit Barjac (D1), to Aigues-Mortes (R1) who will travel to Le Vigan (D2), and to Le Grau-du-Roi (R1) who will play Bellegarde (D3). “We are very happy with the draw, it will be a great celebration of football and in the previous round we eliminated an R3 team,” explained Aad Zerouala, the coach of Saint-Hilaire de la Jasse (D2) who will host Anduze (R3).
On the other hand, Yannick Divol, the president of FC Val de Cèze (D1), who will face All Five Academie (D2), was pleased with the draw: “I prefer to play away to a D2 team than to host an R1 team for this round. We are facing a team that didn’t get here by chance. They are at our level, maybe slightly weaker. We hope to progress and face a big club in the quarter-finals. The Gard Lozère Cup is one of our objectives this season.”
The final match of the round of 16 will see Vézénobres-Cruviers (D2) against Vergèze (R3). After the draw, teams were randomly given their set of jerseys. Nîmes Olympique will play in yellow, and FC Val de Cèze, who usually wears red, will have to play in green. Thirteen out of the 16 teams still in the competition were present on Thursday, and the three clubs absent will have to pay a fine of €80 which will go directly into the district’s coffers.
The round of 16 matches (without extra time) of the Gard Lozère Cup will take place on March 8. The draw for the quarter-finals will happen on March 12 at Antonins Stadium and will be live on Objectif Gard. As for the final, it will be held on Thursday, May 14 at Bourgidou Stadium in Aigues-Mortes. This will be the last time all district cup finals will be held on the same day, as starting from 2027, they will be split over two days.
