Our Federale 1 favourites Vannes threaten to take Lavaur to the cleaners but fall short of valuable bonus point

Vannes 23 Lavaur 11: Vannes picked up a win at the second time of asking and climbed to an early second in an ominously tight Pool 3, but will be ruing the late loss of a bonus point.

Les Vannetais, eager to get off the mark after their opening reverse at Hagetmau, were put on the back foot by Lavaur's powerful pack in the early phases, but the hosts soaked up the pressure and full back Steeve Sargos opened the scoring with a ninth minute penalty.

Julien Lauvernet tied the scores with a penalty for Lavaur three minutes later before Sargos restored the lead with his second successful kick 18 minutes in. The Breton side grew in confidence until, seven minutes before the break, Argentinian winger Max Cocetta ran onto a blindside pass from scrum-half Clement Payen and dashed over for the first try of the match and an 11-3 half-time lead.

The second half started in the same tight vein as the first, Lauvernet pulling three points back for the visitors who still had the edge in the scrum. But a change of personnel, with Argentine hooker Carlos Muzzio and Uruguayan prop Gaston Szabo taking the field, turned the tables and gave Vannes the platform to set up chip-and-chase tries for Sargos on the hour and then a second for Cocetta, who showed a touch of the Maradonas by heading the akwardly bouncing ball over the goal line before grounding.

That was enough to give Vannes all five points from their first home game of the season, but Lavaur spoilt the maison complet with a try for winger Lionel Fabre eight minutes from time after a well worked team effort. Hopefully it won't be a significant point at the end of the season in a pool in which eight of the 10 teams have a won-1, lost-1 record.

Second string: Vannes B match the senior's climb to second in the table with a 23-16 win over Lavaur seconds.

Also in Pool 3: Saint-Junien 24 Langon 22, Morlaas 35 Saint-Nazaire 30, Saint-Medard 6 Colomiers 17, Hagetmau 12 Saint-Jean-de-Luz 19

Next up: Langon vs Vannes, Sunday October 9, Stade Comberlin, Langon. It would always seem to be a good time to play a team rooted to the foot of the table, but Federale 1's Pool 3 is so tight that Vannes know they face a tricky trip down to play les Girondins of Langon.

Their hosts have lost both matches so far, a sloppy 18-11 home defeat to Saint-Medard in the opener followed by a battling 24-22 loss at Saint-Junien.

Langon's form will surely pick up as the season goes on: in five years in Federale 1 they've never really threatened the play-offs but have always maintained their third-tier status comfortably. Relatively rarely even for this league, their 39-man squad is exclusively French, and relatively local, with plenty of Langon veterans like flankers Bertrand Fourton and Kevin Barthelmy, who both came up with the club from Federale 2 and are still giving their all at Stade Comberlin. Its proximity to Bordeaux also gives it first refusal on players from the city's Top 14 club, with outside-half Julien Lavie, hooker Nicolas Dospital and prop Gregory Napias all passing through Stade André-Moga on their way the Stade Langonnais.

Key to their success is the form of scrum-half Nicolas Cabannes, who'd make a good entry in our journeyman section having played for Mont-de-Marsan, Pau, La Rochelle, La Seyne, Saint-Medard and now Langon over 10 seasons and across French rugby's top three tiers.

Once they've seen off the threat of Langon, our garcons vannetais can enjoy the sites of the town, which is a key hub in the road-and-waterway transfer of Airbus A380 wings from the Atlantic to Toulouse and home to the 14th Century Chateau de Roquetaillade in nearby Mazères.

The news Fed-lines: Newly promoted Stade Phocéen earn the win of the week award with a 14-12 win at the home of newly relegated Saint-Etienne in Pool 2. Fly half Jean-Philippe Colonna took the points for the Marseilles side with his third penalty two minutes from time after former Pau and Gloucester No.10 Ludovic Mercier's fourth goal had threatened to deny the visitors a deserved victory just two minutes earlier.

Colomiers remain the only team with a 100% record in Vannes' Pool 3 after a 17-6 win at Saint-Medard. In contrast Langon stand at two losses from two courtesy of a narrow defeat at Saint-Junien, while Hagetmau suffered a home defeat to the Basques of Saint-Jean-de-Luz: Vannes' failure to win there last week perhaps puts that early second place in its real perspective.

Massy, Lille, Bobigny and Dijon lead the way in Pool 1 with their second wins, the only surprise being the margin of Dijon's 38-21 win over fancied Nevers, for whom the boot of Frederic Pujo wasn't enough against three first half tries and a late fourth - and second of the game - for the Moutard Boys' flying Fijian Tikiko Uluiviti.

Valence d'Agen and Lourdes head Pool 4, l'Avenir Valenciens coming off best in an early eight-pointer against our group favourites Tyrosse. Ex-Beziers fly-half Anthony Tesquet kicked 17 of the hosts' points in the 25-13 win, the teams sharing a try apiece. Lourdes set out their ambitions with a 22-19 win at Oloron, stalwart outside-half Mathieu Pouey - never one to be sniffed at - kicking 17 points of his own and former Pau hooker Florian Cazalot scoring an early try for the eight-times French champions.

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Fédérale 1 Pool 3 table: