French champions Lille got their season off to a winning start with a 4-2 win over Nord France rivals Douai.
Chilean player Raimundo Valenzuela was on the mark for the side, linking up this season once again with the club’s new coach Jorge Dabanch whom he has worked with many times on the international stage.
The Spaniard brings a wealth of experience from around the world, notably being the head coach at HGC when they went on to win the EHL in 2011. He has also coached Antwerp in Belgium and UD Taburiente, Racing Santander and Real Club de Polo in Spain.
The other strikes came from Adrien Cousin, Paul Piot and Mattéo Desgouillons, one of a number of Olympians in their line-up.
He played against the Netherlands in Paris this summer in a team that also featured club captain Viktor Lockwood, Brieuc Delemazure and goalkeeper Arthur Thieffry.
They have also made a couple of new signings in José-Iñaki Lafuente and Oscar Delacroix who are part of the French underage international setups, both coming from Wattignies.
They are all in for Lille’s EHL return when they come up against Grasshopper Club Zurich in London in October.
Elsewhere, the first weekend saw CA Montrouge record the biggest win with an 8-1 success over FC Lyon while four Jules Verrier goals saw Saint Germain defeat IH Lambersart 7-1.
Victor Charlet scored two in his 3-0 debut win for Polo versus Racing Club de France and Paris Jean Bouin saw off Nantes 2-0.
