Amateurs reach French Cup final

AMATEUR footballers Quevilly grabbed a goal in the third minute of extra time and a place in the French Cup final on April 28 when they beat Ligue 1 team Rennes.

It's the second time the Seine-Maritime minnows have reached the final - the last was in 1927 - and the first time since 2001, with Amiens, that an amateur team has won through.

US Quevilly, from the third tier National championship, are real cup specialists as they knocked out Marseille in the quarter-final and were beaten semi-finalists in 2010 (after beating Brittany rivals Rennes in the quarter-final).

They play Olympique Lyon on April 28 in the Stade de France but have warned supporters on their website that they will have no details of ticket allocations before next Wednesday, March 18.

Lyon beat another National side, Gazelec Ajaccio of Corsica, to grab their final place. They have not won the Coupe de France since 2008 and this will be their second final this year as they play Marseille in the Coupe de Ligue next weekend.

Quevilly had gone one goal down after just eight minutes when Julien Féret scored and had to wait until the 64th minute for the equaliser through substitute Karim Herouat.

A frantic final few minutes saw Rennes pushing forward for the winner only to lose the ball in the Quevilly half and the minnows surged forward for Anthony Laup to score with a low shot under despairing keeper Benoit Costil.

However, Quevilly supporters have been criticised after objects were thrown on to the pitch in the first half - including what was said to be a banana thrown at Rennes player Jirès Kembo-Ekoko - and lasers being shone at the eyes of players.

Referee Tony Chapron was also targeted and warned officials at the Caen stadium - where the game had been switched from Quevilly's home ground in Grand-Quevilly - what was happening at half time.

Check the US Quevilly website with this link