Saint-Etienne and Carcassonne hold onto their first-leg leads to win promotion to Pro D2; Bourg-en-Bresse and Tyrosse have to do it all over again next season

Saint-Etienne and Carcassonne will take their places in Pro D2 next season after winning their Federale 1 play-off semi-finals on Sunday.

Both teams held narrow advantages after first-leg home wins, but both earned their spots in France's second tier with impressive away wins.

For Saint-Etienne, the 19-16 win at Bourg-en-Bresse completes a remarkable season and an even more remarkable seven years since the CASE club merged with local neighbours Semur XV. They gained promotion to Federale 3 in their first season, climbed into Federale 2 at the third attempt and have now reached the professional leagues after just one year in Federale 1.

The signing of former French international fly half Alexandre Peclier has been key to the club's success. Not only has the 35-year-old scored 293 points and missed only one game in their promotion campaign, but his 27 points in the two legs of the semi-final could prove the most important in the club's history.

Les Stephanois arrived at Stade Verchere only a point up on their eastern rivals after a 23-22 first-leg win, and despite two drop goals from Peclier, three penalties by Bressane's Mathieu Chabaud gave the hosts the edge at half-time.

Peclier's third drop four minutes into the second half levelled the scores and Saint-Etienne took the lead three minutes later, Peclier sending over a diagonal kick for winger Simon Sarthou to gather and score his eighth try of the season.

With 15 minutes to go, replacement scrum-half Florian Napoli levelled the scores with a try that Nicolas Manguelin converted, but Saint-Etienne's defence held out, Peclier having the last word with his fourth drop goal of the afternoon from the halfway line.

While coach Richard McClintok praised Peclier's kicking game for helping to pull off the perfect game plan, the former Bourgoin, Clermont and Lyon ouverur thanked his forwards for giving him the platform to attempt so many drop goals.

"When we couldn't win a penalty, you have to try for drops," he said. "I tried eight and kicked four, not a bad return. But the forwards were excellent, and it's thanks to them that we could get into the opposition's half and pile on the pressure."

He was looking forward to next season's local derby with Lyon, a club where he spent two difficult seasons until moving the few miles to the southwest last summer.

"That's all in the past. Lyon was a bad experience, but I'll be proud to meet them again next season with Saint-Etienne."

The clash will bear comparison with the towns' fierce football derbies, and it's not impossible that Saint-Etienne will switch the match to Stade Geoffroy-Guichard: the first leg of their semi-final drew 22,000 spectators to their round-ball neighbours' home ground.

Despite only sneaking into the play-offs on the final day of the season after a dreadful run saw them lose four of their last five games, Saint-Etienne had seen off favourites Chalon-sur-Saone as well as US Bressane to reach Pro D2. Their only defeats in their 11 post-season matches had come at the hands of Tyrosse, who needed to make up a nine-point deficit at home to US Carcassonne in the other semi-final.

Cité slickers

Christian Labit's USC had reached this stage last season only to lose out to Aix-en-Provence, and after the first-leg kicking contest ended 24-15, kept it tight again, restricting Tyrosse to a 6-3 lead at the interval.

The continued kicking contest between the visitors' Guillaume Garcia and Tyrosse's Thierry Dupré, and a refusal on the part of the Cité club to give an inch in defence effectively extinguished UST's hopes of a return to Pro D2, and with the scores at 12-all with three minutes to go and Tyrosse pressing, Carcassonne's Benoit Lazzarotto sealed promotion with the tie's first try, an 80-metre interception.

And like London buses, another try came along straight away, the young winger adding a second with the last move of the game to complete a flattering 24-12 win for Carcassonne.

As for Saint-Etienne, the professional tier is uncharted territory for Carcassonne, but coach Labit - who arrived at the club three years ago promising Pro D2 rugby within three years - isn't plan to come straight back down in the mold of recent promotees.

"We haven't gone up just to become another yo-yo club. I'm very ambitious," Labit told L'Equipe.

"I'm not interested in playing for the sake of it, just to win. I am now charged with recruiting a team worthy of Pro D2 - Carcassonne must not be the team that everyone plays just looking for easy points.

"When I arrived, the club was stagnant, with no ambition. Trainers had come and gone without achieving anything. When I said in 2007 that we'd be in Pro D2 in three years, no-one believed me. But little by little, we've built a strong back-room team and we're there. With a strong structure in place, progress has been steady."

Labit started his career at Narbonne, but on returning to the club at the end of his playing career, left under a cloud in 2007, walking out on the club and its captaincy mid-season after falling out with coaches who refused to pick him. Now their Pro D2 rivals, the ex-Toulouse man says he is looking forward to their local derby.

"I left Narbonne three years ago, and not in the best of situations. But it'll be good to go back there, even though I won't be in Narbonne's colours. But it's a derby that promises to be lively. We won't be favourites but hopefully we'll be hard to beat. In the Aude department, many people will be there, and it'll be a derby with real character and real movitation."

Before Carcassonne and Saint-Etienne secure their budgets and sign new players for their bid to remain in Pro D2, there's the small matter of the Trophée Jean-Prat to be settled - the two will meet on Sunday to decide who takes home the shield dedicated to the legendary French captain and the title of Federale 1 champions.

Playing it down

In the play-downs, La Seyne and Orleans will meet on Sunday to decide who earns the league's plate/bowl-style consolation prize. Both were ahead going into the second leg of their semi-finals, La Seyne securing their progression with a 22-12 win over Dijon and Orleans sharing eight tries with Oloron in their 33-27 victory.